ChatGPT, Vinfast, And Awesome Honda Concepts: The Biggest Car News To Come Out Of CES

The Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas usually doesn’t have many interesting debuts when it comes to the automotive side of things. Usually it’s some electric vehicle platform news, or a new type of infotainment system. Sony genuinely shocked the world in 2020 when it rolled out the Vision-S electric sedan concept car, then shocked the world again when it unveiled a crossover concept in 2022. A few months later, Sony announced it was entering a partnership with Honda to actually produce a production car, and at CES 2023 the brands revealed a production-intent concept called Afeela.

It seems as Sony and Honda really have been serious about building a car together, as Monday at CES 2024 the Sony Honda Mobility joint venture showed off a more production-ready version of the Afeela sedan than what we’ve previously seen. It has slightly redesigned bumpers front and rear with more production-ready lighting setups, real side-view mirrors, a new active rear spoiler, more realistic cutlines and window glazing, and other little details.

By Daniel Golson

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BMW says its presence at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show is “... dedicated to the digital customer experience.” For the automaker, this means new infotainment experiences that expand its in-car gaming offerings.

In-car gaming at BMW made its debut with the recently designed 5 Series and a feature called the AirConsole gaming platform. With the platform, owners can access games through the car’s infotainment screen and play them via Bluetooth, using their mobile devices as controllers. BMW announced Monday its adding more third-party games for the platform that owners can access through BMW’s ConnectedDrive Store. Split-screen gaming has been added as well, and all of this will be available on models running BMW’s Operating System 9.

By Lawrence Hodge

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We’re living in the end times, and that means Volkswagen announced Monday it is adding ChatGPT artificial intelligence to its cars, integrating the AI into the automaker’s IDA voice assistant.

Volkswagen made the announcement on the opening day of the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. The company says it’s the first volume manufacturer to offer ChatGPT as a standard feature starting in the second quarter of 2024. Here’s the catch though: it’s still up in the air whether or not it’ll come to the U.S.

By Andy Kalmowitz

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As small vans are gradually dying off in the U.S., Kia just introduced its new line of electrified commercial-style vans with some revolutionary plans to shake up not just the van world, but the entire automobile as we know it. The first model slated to begin Korean production in 2025 is the PV5, which is aimed at targeting ride-hailing drivers, delivery drivers and utility services.

Kia’s modular platform is called the Platform Beyond Vehicle, or PBV. Owners will be able to change the layout of their van whenever they feel like it, so a PV5 can go from a standard height people hauler to a high-roof cargo van with a few simple steps. In addition to the PV5, which was shown in multiple configurations, Kia also revealed a tiny PV1 designed for easy mobility in hyper-urban environments, and the PV7, the largest model in the lineup.

By Logan Carter

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Honda is getting serious about electric vehicles. The automaker, which has been a bit behind the curve when it comes to EVs, has unveiled a pair of electric concepts as part of their new Honda 0 series called the Saloon and Space-Hub at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

The new 0 Series is meant to symbolize the automaker’s new direction when it comes to both design and engineering. Everything comes from three core principles with this new line of cars: Thin, Light and Wise. Honda says they counter the traditional constraints of EVs while building on Honda’s “M/M” (man maximum/machine minimum) philosophy.

By Andy Kalmowitz

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The Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas is always a fount of jaw-dropping new technology, from robots and foldable TVs to the latest smart home devices and even food. Automakers and suppliers have come to CES in recent years with everything from actual new car reveals to more over-arching tech announcements, but a lot of the time it’s pretty boring stuff, especially for the every day enthusiast. But this year Continental has unveiled a new transparent in-car display that could revolutionize automotive interior design.

Called the Crystal Center Display, the screen was jointly developed by Continental and Swarovski Mobility. An Austrian brand that has been around since 1895, Swarvoski is one of the largest crystal producers in the world, and it already has a presence in the automotive world. The old Mercedes-Benz S-Class coupe had Swarovski crystals in the LED headlights, and a number of new BMWs are offered with headlights and interior accents like seat and iDrive controls made from Swarovski crystal.

By Daniel Golson

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At CES in Las Vegas on Tuesday embattled Vietnamese car company VinFast brought the Jabbawockeez dance crew onstage to unveil its new pickup truck, the Wild. While that pickup is just a concept for now, VinFast also used its CES presentation to formally announce that its super small, super cute and hopefully super cheap VF3 electric SUV will be sold in America, according to Motor1.

The VF3 has total Suzuki Jimny vibes in terms of styling, but it’s much, much smaller. At just 125.6 inches long, the VF3 is almost a foot shorter than even the kei version of the Jimny, and it’s only a couple inches longer than the old Scion iQ. That means the VF3 is also nearly two feet shorter than the new Fiat 500e, which will be the smallest EV on sale when it reaches U.S. dealers within the next few months.

By Daniel Golson

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Automotive journalists love to clown on in-car voice assistants, always talking about how useless and pointless they are, but not me. I’m already the kind of guy that says “thanks girl” after asking Siri a question, and I do love using a good voice assistant in a car (emphasis on the word “good”). They can genuinely lessen driver distraction and accomplish a number of features, but most of the assistants on the market are kinda clunky, robotic and not very fun.

At CES 2024 Mercedes-Benz is aiming to change that, unveiling a new virtual assistant for its next-gen MB.OS infotainment system that will debut with the new CLA. Mercedes says the new assistant uses generative AI for a “hyper-personalized user experience” that will feel like a natural conversation.

By Daniel Golson

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Honda just debuted two striking electric concept cars at CES, and to go along with the two new models are two new company logos. Honda revised its “H mark” — Honda-speak for its iconic H emblem — that will be used on all next-generation Honda EVs, and it’s worn by the concepts unveiled at CES. There’s also a new 0 logo for its upcoming 0 Series models — that’s the number zero — the name of Honda’s new EV lineup.

The new H mark does away with the rectangle encircling the H on the current badge, leaving behind a stylized and slightly more squat H that Honda says resembles two outstretched hands. We noticed that the new H mark is more reminiscent of the company’s original logo that was used from 1961 to 1969 than it is akin to the current H mark, which is a nice retro moment. Overall it’s a redesign that looks clean and concise, if a touch more abstract, and Honda says is intended to commemorate the development of Honda’s next-generation EVs.

By Logan Carter

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Volkswagen released teaser images of a refreshed version of its vaunted MK8 GTI, a car that driving enthusiasts love piloting, but that caused controversy with an unintuitive infotainment system and uninspiring looks.

The GTI is a timeless motoring legend but the latest MK8 GTI was the first one in a long time that came with caveats to its greatness. The driving experience was an improvement over the MK7.5, but most other aspects of the car were not universally improved, including the recent and heartbreaking decision to end production of the manual transmission GTI toward the end of last year.

By Logan Carter

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Despite the push, eVTOLs are not the future of transportation — they’re not flying cars, either. And despite eVTOL companies failing and no one actually bringing one of these things to market yet, over $5 billion has been poured into the industry over the last decade. Hyundai is one of the biggest presences in the eVTOL space, and the fruit of that investment was shown at this year’s CES in the form of a new eVTOL concept.

Developed in conjunction with air mobility startup Supernal (a company that Hyundai has invested nearly $1 billion into since 2021), Hyundai debuted the S-A2 eVTOL concept, a follow up to its S-A1 concept from CES 2020. It’s described as a V-tail aircraft that can cruise at up to 1,500 feet, at speeds of 120 mph, for trips between 25 and 40 miles long. Supernal says it’s as quiet as a dishwasher (65 decibels) during takeoff and even quieter (45 dB) when it’s cruising.

By Lawrence Hodge

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Sony and Honda really, truly are building a car together. The Sony Honda Mobility joint venture — or SHM, as the brand calls itself – unveiled an updated prototype of its Afeela electric sedan at the Consumer Electronics Show that looks closer to production than what we’ve seen before and made a number of engineering and technology partnership announcements. Most excitingly, Sony and Honda are joining forces with Gran Turismo studio Polyphony Digital to develop real-world cars and improve video game ones.

Honestly, this feels like a no-brainer to me. Sony has been playing up the PlayStation connection ever since debuting the Vision-S concept in 2020, and the latest Afeela was driven onto the stage using a PS5 controller. (SHM says that was just for a demo, don’t worry.) The car’s infotainment system is being developed with Epic Games and uses Unreal Engine 5, and SHM touts how it will have an unparalleled in-car gaming experience.

By Daniel Golson

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VinFast is, by all accounts, not a particularly serious automaker. Sure, many of its cars are genuinely nice-looking machines, but that curb appeal starts to wear off when you actually get behind the wheel — the vehicles are simply not ready for prime time. Of course, rather than address these faults, VinFast seems intent on barreling forward.

The company is shuffling its C-suite, getting into dealerships, and allegedly having critical influencers arrested by Vietnamese authorities — really, doing everything except improving the single car it actually sells in the States. Now, having learned seemingly no lessons from the launch of the VF8, the company wants to enter the extremely competitive midsize pickup market with its new VF Wild concept.

By Steve DaSilva

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Mercedes-Benz announced a slew of stuff at CES, from a new AI virtual assistant to musical EV sounds developed with Will.I.Am that change as you drive. CES was also host to the North American debuts of the Concept CLA and the new E-Class, but the only thing that I truly care about is the camouflaged prototype of the upcoming electric G-Class. First previewed by the EQG concept in 2021, the G-Class EV will go on sale later this year, and Mercedes says it will be the best G-wagen ever made both on-road and off.

To really show off what the electric G is capable of, Mercedes took four prototypes out to a closed-off section of the Las Vegas strip in the middle of the night so it could demonstrate the “G-Turn” function, which uses the SUV’s four electric motors to do a tank turn, spinning the G-Class around in place. Mercedes says that “G-Turn must not be used on public roads” and that it was developed specifically for off-roading, but my desire to do this in the middle of Beverly Hills or in line at the drive-thru is just far too strong. What are you gonna do, arrest me?

By: Daniel Golson

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