Flying taxis, screens, therapeutic massage seats: Shangai auto present shows futuristic vehicles
On the large Auto Shanghai business present this week, the chatter was much less about highly effective engines and extra about cutting-edge know-how and passenger consolation.
Lots of of carmakers and gear provides have stuffed the exhibition area since Wednesday, showcasing fashions filled with screens, therapeutic massage seats and different add-ons — to not point out flying taxis.
Screens in all places
Going through fierce competitors, Chinese language automotive producers are attempting to draw hyperconnected customers with screens as much as 65 inches extensive mounted in entrance of every passenger, within the doorways, within the solar visors and even on the automotive bonnet.
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In the meantime, electronics giants Huawei and Xiaomi are concentrating on youthful clients who already simply join their cellphones to their vehicles.
European automakers try to counter their Chinese language rivals, with the primary mannequin from Volkswagen’s China-focused model AUDI — intentionally styled in capital letters — providing a display screen occupying the whole dashboard.
When stationary, the screens can be utilized for watching movies or singing karaoke.
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And on the highway, superior driving techniques promise to get customers from A to B with no need to the touch the steering wheel besides in an emergency.
“With the proliferation of clever driving, vehicles will not be seen solely as transportation instruments, however will really change into a ‘second dwelling area,'” consultancy agency McKinsey mentioned in a 2025 report on Chinese language auto client tastes.
Therapeutic massage seats
Chinese language customers place extra worth on inside consolation in comparison with different markets, based on European carmakers.
Guests at Auto Shanghai queued to sit down in luxurious minivans with chrome radiator grilles and reclining rear seats.
Mercedes unveiled a prototype of its next-generation luxurious electrical minivan, the Imaginative and prescient V, hoping to seduce future executives with aluminum seats, wooden and silk trim, and a cinema display screen that folds out from the ground.
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In keeping with McKinsey, lifestyle-oriented options akin to fridges, televisions and reclining seats are extremely wanted in China, as are top-spec suspension and rear-wheel steering that improve consolation whereas driving.
“As car costs enhance, so does client demand for these options, together with a rising willingness to pay further” to have them, the consultancy mentioned.
On Friday, Chinese language carmaker Nio had passengers bounce round inside its automobiles to show the effectiveness of the suspension.
Others are turning to conventional strategies, with French gear producer Forvia providing a seat that kneads, pinches, and pricks its occupant.
The seat was “impressed by conventional Chinese language and Thai massages”, mentioned innovation supervisor Zong Li on the firm’s sales space, and is predicted to be put in in a Chinese language car this yr.
Drones
Elsewhere, quite a few propeller-powered flying taxis towered over different automobiles.
The know-how, often called electrical vertical take-off and touchdown (eVTOL), remains to be on the prototype stage however ultimately goals to ferry a number of individuals at a time.
The world’s main battery producer, CATL, confirmed off its eVTOL idea, recent from saying an funding of “a whole bunch of hundreds of thousands of {dollars}” in Chinese language startup AutoFlight.
Even conventional producer Hongqi — well-known for supplying limousines to China’s chief Xi Jinping — introduced its idea of a “flying automotive” for 2 passengers, claiming an unproven vary of 200 kilometres (124 miles) forward of checks scheduled this yr.
Lately, China has made strides in eVTOL know-how, the place it’s in direct competitors with US gamers whereas Europeans wrestle to make their mark.
Automotive provider Wanfeng introduced final month that it will take over bankrupt German eVTOL producer Volocopter, whose plane had been initially slated for a small-scale rollout through the 2024 Paris Olympics however are nonetheless awaiting certification.
