Car Tech at CES 2023 Is All About Streaming, Gaming, Autonomous Driving

LAS VEGAS—CES has become the world’s biggest car show, with 25% more floor space allocated to automotive brands, and the tech inside their cars, this year than in 2022.

Major tech companies like Google, Microsoft, Qualcomm, and others are partnering with BMW, Volvo, Mercedes, and Volkswagen to redefine mobility. The result is an elevated experience that feels more like sitting in a living room recliner than driving.

“You won’t be watching Spiderman while the vehicle is driving,” brands told us repeatedly in some form or another. But that seems like a fine line when the entire dash is wall-to-wall screens.

The lynchpin underlying all the automakers’ future plans: autonomous driving, with dozens of exterior sensors and cameras that use AI to learn their surroundings and navigate safely.

Here is the coolest car technology from the show, and the most emblematic of the direction major car brands and tech companies appear to be going.

AFEELA: A New Brand From Sony/Honda

Afeela interior
(Credit: Emily Dreibelbis)

Sony has teamed up with Honda to create electric vehicles with a superior content experience, tech in every nook and cranny, and autonomy galore. The brands’ first vehicle, dubbed Afeela, debuted at the show, and Sony Honda Mobility (SHM), their new joint venture company, will begin taking orders for it in 2025 with customer deliveries in 2026.

Interior of the Afeela vehicle
(Credit: Emily Dreibelbis)

The vehicle will have self-driving technology from Qualcomm, powered by 45 cameras and sensors. Digital blinders will shield the driver from the passenger side wall-to-wall dash screen, SHM told us during a demo, leaving them free to explore games from Epic Games and content from the Sony Studios library without compromising safety.

Afeela app
(Credit: Emily Dreibelbis)

A mobile app adjusts the temperature inside the vehicle, tells you if the tires need air, and can even display the score of a live sports game on the outside of the car for tailgating. A football feature on a Japanese vehicle? SHM is all about making its customers aFEEL something, and it believes sports, entertainment, and gaming are the way to do it.

Peugeot Inception EV Concept

(Credit: Emily Dreibelbis)

This hotrod from Stellantis-owned French automaker Peugeot won’t be produced, but it sets a new direction for the brand. Expect to see traces of it in future vehicles.

Peugeot’s next-gen cockpit features the Hypersquare infotainment and controls system, with a steering wheel modeled after a video game controller. The seats look a little uncomfortable for a long gaming sesh, but, again, it’s a concept.

(Credit: Emily Dreibelbis)

Stellantis’ new STLA battery platform powers the vehicle. It’s a universal battery design that we can expect to see in all electric vehicles from Stellantis brands going forward, including the RAM 1500 electric pickup, which also debuted at the show.

Qualcomm Digital Chassis Concept

This demo vehicle from Qualcomm features yet another U-shaped steering wheel, with wall-to-wall screens and autonomous technology. Qualcomm had a large presence at the show, not just at its own booth but at those from automakers that plan to use its technology in their vehicles.

Qualcomm concept vehicle at CES
(Credit: Emily Dreibelbis)

At the show, Qualcomm unveiled a new chip that combines digital cockpit tech (voice recognition, multiple integrated displays) with autonomous driving. It’s expected to bring autonomous driving to more vehicles, although when we tested its self-driving technology at CES we still found it needed an operator to intervene regularly.

“What’s coming in the next couple years will be more like a super smart cruise control that can merge and adapt to highway situations,” a Qualcomm spokesperson told us at the booth.

Qualcomm concept car, with doors opening out like we saw on many vehicles at the show.
(Credit: Emily Dreibelbis)

Volkswagen ID.7

In Vegas, Volkswagen debuted its next EV for the US market, the ID.7 sedan. It emerged coated in 40 layers of electromagnetic paint, which changes colors through electric pulses—the perfect CES stunt. A scannable QR code with more information about the vehicle was a good idea, but it linked to the German site (a comical oversight and reminder of the brand’s German roots).

Volkswagen ID.7 all dressed up for CES.
(Credit: Volkswagen)

The ID.7 will have an advanced head-up display, another big theme at the show. The windshield will feature augmented reality visuals such as turn-by-turn directions, the car’s speed, and more so the driver does not need to look away from the road for key information.

Pricing is yet to be announced, but range will be around 300 miles. It likely won’t sell as many units as the popular ID.4 SUV since sedans are less popular in the US, but it’s on deck to be a state-of-the-art competitor to the Tesla Model 3.

BMW i Vision Dee

(Credit: BMW)

BMW hosted an off-the-wall keynote at the show, featuring an in-person appearance from Arnold Schwarzenegger, as well as its new i Vision Dee EV concept car. “Dee” stands for Digital Emotional Experience. The presentation centered around the relationship people have with their cars, especially through voice technology. The vehicle spoke, admitting it was “nervous” to come on stage in front of all the people at the start of the show. But toward the end of the presser, it came out on stage, complete with blinking headlights and mechanical facial expressions.

BMW i Vision Dee head-up display
(Credit: BMW)

The car showcases more than just voice technology. It has a color-shifting E Ink digital coating and a Mixed Reality Slider to interact with the full-windshield head-up display (HUD). BMW says some of this technology may reach its Neue Klasse (New Class) vehicles as soon as 2025.

Again, it’s all about gaming and the metaverse experience inside future vehicles, with the windshield becoming a personal iMax screen and the steering wheel the ultimate gaming device.

RAM 1500 Electric Pickup Truck

Ram 1500 Electric Pickup Truck Concept reveal at CES keynote.
(Credit: Emily Dreibelbis)

Following competitors Ford and Chevrolet, Ram debuted a new pickup truck set to go into production in 2024. Some details may change before the final production model is set; specs and pricing are set to be revealed later this year.

The interior cabin on the vehicle is massive. It feels like a room in itself, and Stellantis-owned Ram says there is enough space for a third row of seats, made possible by repurposing extra space typically allocated for a gas engine. All seats are set on rails for custom configuration. One of the two dash screens detaches, turning into a tablet for worksite plans or other content the driver can sync from their phone and take with them.

In terms of autonomous driving, the vehicle has Shadow Mode, a utility-minded feature where the truck follows the driver when they are working outside the car. This ensures any necessary equipment in the car is always on hand (think: painting a fence, loading firewood, etc.)

STLA battery platform sitting underneath the RAM 1500 electric pickup truck.
(Credit: Emily Dreibelbis)

Underneath sits the new STLA battery platform, like the Peugeot. In the Stellantis keynote at the show, CEO Carlos Tavares revealed the company’s investments in more energy dense batteries with 50% less weight, called solid state batteries. The brand knows EV batteries are too big, too heavy, and don’t hold enough energy as consumers would like, and it’s out to change that.

Fully Autonomous Vehicles

Autonomous mobility from Toyota Boshoku, left, and Hyundai Mobis, right.
(Credit: Emily Dreibelbis)

Some startups at the show are building fully autonomous vehicles, meaning Level 5 autonomy (the highest level) with no steering wheel at all.

Japanese company Toyota Boshoku(Opens in a new window) already has its vehicles on the road in Japan. They can be used as rideshares, or even as a rented room for a meeting, appointment, or creative date. The idea is to have a mobile space that comes to the person, to be used as they like.

When we get to this point, streaming and gaming are full-on possibilities. We’d likely even see interior design and customization similar to living rooms in homes or office waiting rooms.

Hyundai Mobis, meanwhile, unveiled a similar vehicle at the show: the “NEW MOBIS.” The company expects to complete development this year, though the vehicle will “only” have Level 3 autonomous driving through Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Ride Platform (and Level 3 is still quite a bit more than we’re seeing on the roads today, requiring a special permit.)