Volkswagen is driving into an all personal, electric and autonomous future

If you thought smartphones and computers are going big, think again. The automobile industry is going through a huge shift. Sitting in India we might not see that, but major car makers around the world are working on a variety of technologies that will change our vision of transportation in the coming years. Consider German automobile giant Volkswagen, which gave us a glimpse last year of what it is planning for the future. At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, it opened up and gave more clarity on what it has to offer for the future.

Going Personal

Currently, all Volkswagen cars are coming with features like MirrorLink, Android Auto, and Apple CarPlay which lets users access a variety of app as well as music from their phone right onto their car’s infotainment system. This seemed like a dream 10 years ago, but today its seems like a necessity. Going forward, VW wants to make cars more personal. Using Volkswagen User-ID, a user could make a profile of his/her personal settings and use them in any other Volkswagen car they want. Settings like seat adjustments, music playlists, screen layout and more could be easily loaded. According to the car maker, the settings would be stored on the cloud and features like limiting the car’s power could be added to it as well.

Interactive UI

The most important part however a driver would interact with the car itself. Keeping that in mind, Volkswagen showcased the ”Interactive Experience” an extension of operating concepts showcased previously. The Volkswagen Digital Cockpit comprising two overlaid screens, was also announced. Here one screen shows critical information about the car while the other shows less important information. The company is also planning on integrating Amazon Alexa into its cars which means that you’ll be able to control devices using your voice by sitting in your car. For instance, you could just tell Alexa to turn up the music or the air-conditioning while driving your way back home.

I.D.

Announced last year at Paris Motor Show, the Volkswagen I.D. concept stood for being electric, autonomous and most of all personal. It is is a fully electric car which definitely looks like a vehicle from the future. Volkswagen plans to start bringing this concept to life by the year 2020, and it should be fully autonomous by 2025. It would come with a 600km (around 370 miles) range on a single charge and will be first built on VW Group’s Modular Electric Drive (MEB) platform, resulting in spacious interiors while keeping exterior dimensions compact. It also features a steering wheel that completely moves inside the dash when the self-driving mode is engaged.

The year, we have a classic that is going futuristic. Volkswagen’s iconic air-cooled, rear-engine Type 2 bus is getting new life. While there have been many concepts around the mini-bus in the past, but this one is getting the I.D. badge. This means an all-electric version is under consideration. Called the I.D. Buzz (or bus) it will be based on the modular electric architecture (MEB). It is said to enter production in 2020 and will offer a rear-drive, but of course with electric motors controlling both the axles. The face of the van gets the V-shaped detail from the original, however the round headlights are replaced with LED units resembling ones eyes with smart features. The concept van is powered 110-kWh lithium-ion battery pack that is a larger version of the 60-kWh unit in the compact ID to fit the 129.9-inch wheelbase. The range is said to be somewhere between 200 and 270 miles (320-434kms) and charging is done via a traditional plug or an inductive charging pad located under the front axle. Acceleration speeds of 0-100kmph is said to be attained in about 5 seconds, with a top sped of 160kmph.

It won’t be like a conventional mini-bus on the inside. It is expected to offer full autonomy with a squared-circular steering wheel that could go inside the dash just like the original I.D. concept car. There will be touchscreen to control most of functions, the seats can be turned around, the rear ones can electrically fold into a bed, the sliding center console is like an iPad tablet that is basically an infotainment screen that connects via Bluetooth to the speakers, and when slid rearward, tables can be deployed to facilitate card games, puzzle-assembly, etc. There is also an entire windshield heads-up display which shows augmented reality info along with the I.D. profile system.