Every year, the "Salon international de l'auto et accessoires Geneva" turns out to be one of the flashiest, most outrageous car shows that take place worldwide - and 2018 is no exception. Geneva is a car show all about the future and the outlandish ideas that people working at car companies have as their vision. We were treated to a huge number of unveilings, including super cars with more than 1,000 horsepower, the next series of consumer electric vehicles and multiple concepts for a flying car. Luxury names like Porsche and Jaguar tried to make headlines alongside super brands like Lamborghini and McLaren, and the results are some of the most spectacular news we will see this year. And what were these latest gadgets in technology?
Indeed: electric
Almost all the presentations used alternative energy sources, and most of them electric. The big news was the production version of the Jaguar i-Pace. This is the first SUV that does not look like a transport bin to carry bikes, dogs or prams, but it is a sleek SUV aimed at people who like to drive, with an architecture that already distances itself from what is common for petrol cars.
The Jaguar I-Pace is undoubtedly the brightest and most innovative Jaguar from the hands of design boss Ian Callum and represents the first premium electric model from a major manufacturer: electric driving with class.
Good news, but we're more interested in the bold concepts, like the Renault EZ-GO. Even by Renault's sometimes wacky standards, the EZ-GO concept seems somewhat bizarre. A huge, 5, metre-long autonomous pod with folding glass roof and a retractable ramp so passengers can walk on board. Renault classifies it somewhere between a bus and a taxi and hopes to build it for commercial use around 2022. Top speed is limited to 50 km/h and four-wheel steering ensures excellent manoeuvrability.
Inside the car, there is room for six passengers on a u-shaped bench, as well as a large floor space for wheelchairs or buggies. This confirms the EZ-GO's role as an autonomous taxi that moves small groups of people on predetermined routes in the city centre. We expect to see more comparative concepts over the next four years as Renault gears up its robo-taxi idea for production.
on with the unveiling of its fourth electric I.D. concept car, the Vizzion. This five-metre-long sedan is the pride of the series, and because VW considers it a level-five autonomous vehicle, it has no steering wheel. In theory, it will be able to drive from door to door without any occupant intervention. However, they can intervene interactively through the use of their voice and gestures (think changing the route).
The all-wheel-drive car has one electric motor per axle and the 111kWh battery gives a range of more than 600 kilometres. VW will start production of the I.D. series in 2020, but a car based on the Vizzion concept will follow a few years later. The Vizzion will ultimately contribute to VW's goal of selling one million electric vehicles a year by 2025.
A new car tyre from Goodyear called Oxygen would fit in well with these concepts. This tyre, the main concept in accessories at the Salon, has a unique structure with living moss growing in the sidewall of the tyre, which attracts moisture from the road, and this moss converts the CO2 into oxygen. This photosynthesis also generates a little electricity that illuminates strips on the side of the tyre, leading to increased safety for other road users. Goodyear estimates that if every car in Paris had these tyres, it would remove about 4,000 tonnes of CO2 and yield 3,000 tonnes of oxygen annually-a great vision of the future for car tyres!
Electric hypercar
Anyone who has ever travelled on the metro -or the roller coaster- knows that electric motors can be very powerful. Electric motors have therefore attracted the interest of supercar manufacturers. Croatian start-up Rimac supplied car companies with electrical equipment such as infotainment and batteries, and has used this to fund the development and construction of its C_2 electric hypercar.
The numbers behind the C_2 are mind-boggling: electric motors producing 1,914 hp and 2,300NM of torque, which shoots the car from 0 to 100 in just 1.95 seconds. The top speed is 415 km/h- the fastest electric car to date!
The 120kWh battery can achieve a range of 600 kilometres, and when powerful fast chargers become available, the battery can be charged from 0 to 80% in just 30 minutes.
We see this kind of promising number all too often in the world of one-off hypercars, but the difference with Rimac is that the production version of the C_2 is not a one-day wonder, but a series of 150 cars, each priced at €1.7 million. Definitely one to keep an eye on.
Flying cars?!
Granted, not really new-but always important! In the movies, the dream goes back to 1927's Metropolis, where cars fly between Art Deco skyscrapers in this futuristic city. Volkswagen's Italdesign and Airbus joined forces with Audi, and the star of the show was the concept Pop.Up Next-to make it clear that the big companies still believe in a drone that can be summoned to complement a small electric car.
The two-seater has been made more aerodynamic, lighter and a bit more stylish than its predecessor Pop.Up - enough to make Audi add its four rings to the nose - and Italdesign and Airbus engineers have improved the coupling and decoupling systems between the car and flying drone. The 50-kilometre range does mean it will be limited to the city of Metropolis.
Another option already available for sale -a first- is the Dutch-made PAL-V Liberty-a well-executed cross between a helicopter and a three-wheeled motorbike. With the size of a sedan, the PAL-V has two separate engines, one for flight (170 km/h) and one for road (160 km/h) and a range of 500 km. Switching to flight mode takes about 5 minutes, and with the right certificates, this aircraft could use heliports, which are more readily available than airports.
All in all, the technology behind electric cars is now really coming of age, and we eagerly await the next show; our prediction for a nice concept: an electric Bughatti Veyron that can be picked up by a Saab Gripen- for when you're really in a hurry!
