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i3_0321_14-17_Feature_CarTechRoundup.indd 16

to achieve range of up to 450 miles per charge, the company said.
It was also announced that Super Cruise, GM's self-driving car
system, will be brought to 22 vehicles by 2023, including the
Chevrolet Bolt EV - which will be GM's first EV to have this.
More than 30 new EVs are planned for coming years, including
a new Bolt EUV arriving this summer. GM also debuted
Brightdrop, a new business unit that will sell electric commercial
delivery vehicles built on the Ultium platform. These include EP1, an electric propelled pallet, that will be carried inside the new EV600 electric van.
Both will be used by Fed-Ex, it was announced. The concept of a flying
Cadillac passenger drone that resembled a hybrid car-helicopter was introduced, as well.
Mercedes-Benz featured its new MBUX Hyperscreen, a 55.5-inch single
glass surface that contains three distinct displays for the driver, center-dashboard and front passenger. It's based on the principle of a " zero-layer user
interface, " which keeps the most important functions - such as navigation or
telephone - always available on the top level, in the field of vision, explained
Sajjad Khan, CTO of Mercedes-Benz AG, at a CES 2021 press conference
streamed on January 11. Artificial intelligence (AI) reveals more than 20 other
functions, ranging from active seat massage choices to daily to-do list items if
they're deemed contextually relevant by the technology. Twelve actuators under
the Hyperscreen surface provide haptic feedback. Eight GPU cores supplied
by NVIDIA, 24 GB of RAM and 46.4 gigabytes per second RAM memory
bandwidth hyper-accelerate system performance.
Sono Motors, a German startup, launched its next-generation Sion prototype, a solar-powered EV that uses polymer solar panels in the car's body
- dubbed Sono Solar Technology - to draw energy from the Sun. This
paves the way for series production of the car, the company said. The automaker also revealed its first prototype of a solar-powered trailer, to demonstrate the technology's utility for various vehicle types. Sono projects that
the Sion will be affordably priced when it hits the market.

The 55.5-inch
Mercedes-Benz
MBUX Hyperscreen
features three separate displays.

Previous Spread: Courtesy of Audi. This Spread, clockwise from left: Courtesy of
Mercedes-Benz, Courtesy of Cadillac, Courtesy of MobileEye, Courtesy of Panasonic.

dashboard display that's integrated with
a 12.3-inch driver information display to
form a single unit angled toward the
driver. This year marks 20 years since
BMW iDrive debuted in the 2001 model
year BMW 7 Series. Production of the iX
is slated to begin later this year for the
2022 model year.
FCA (Fiat Chrysler Automobiles) -
now known as Stellantis N.V. following a
merger with France's PSA Group in late
January - used CES's digital venue to
offer three-dimensional product tours
and videos related to the automaker's
technologies and innovations in 12 vehicles. Virtual brand ambassadors guided
viewers through sessions curated according to user preferences, or self-guided sessions. Technologies covered included
FCA's Uconnect 5 infotainment system,
vehicle electrification systems, and vehicle performance and capabilities. A
photo-realistic augmented reality (AR)
model of the Jeep Wrangler 4xe plug-in
hybrid-electric (PHEV) SUV was offered,
enabled by Google's cloud-streaming
technology. Accessible via a QR code on
FCA's CES virtual showroom, for display
on a mobile phone, it allowed viewers to
place the rendered vehicle in a real-world
place, such as a home's driveway.
GM provided CES attendees with news
incorporated into the opening night keynote of CEO Mary Barra, who was accompanied by company executives. The
automaker is spending more than $27
billion through 2025 to develop EVs and
self-driving cars, and in partnership with
LG Energy Solutions is constructing a
new battery cell manufacturing facility in
Ohio. One key building block for EVs presented was GM's new Ultium platform,
which enables nearly any vehicle to be
electrified. It incorporates an almost
completely wireless battery management
system, which can work with horizontal
or vertical stacks of six, eight, 10 or 24
battery cells (in vehicles sized from sports
cars to large trucks), ensuring optimum
performance and charging capacity.
Vehicles built on the platform will be able

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i3 - March/April 2021

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