CES would not be CES without some bonkers, distant vehicle concepts. And luckily General Motors brought two together.
The carmaker unveiled a luxury egg with an egg and an e-seat electric vertical takeoff and landing plane (eVTOL) during its keynote address on Tuesday. Both vehicles are part of Cadillac’s Halo portfolio and are unlikely to be in production any time soon – or at all.
Yet the concepts are meant to showcase Cadillac’s (and added GM) design intentions for future products, and also serve as an extravagant symbol of the brand’s manufacturing skills.
The AV concept looks like a leather-and-fur-draped version of many of the autonomous shuttle services we’ve seen in university towns and corporate campuses around the world. It does not have traditional controls such as a steering wheel and pedals, but rather opts for an interior that looks more like a sunken living room from the 1970s. Michael Simcoe, GM’s VP Global Design, describes it as a social space for a group of friends or family to spend time together on the way to a destination. ‘
The vehicle features a vertical light signature, expansive glass roof and biometric sensors to read passengers’ vital signs and use the data to adjust settings such as temperature, lighting, ambient sounds and even aromas. Other options, such as voice control and gesture recognition, will ensure that customization is mostly effortless (of course, depending on the quality of the technology).
The VTOL concept seems to be a more futuristic version of some prototypes of the air taxi currently being developed. Simcoe calls it GM’s “first foray into aerospace” – although it’s just a design exercise, and it’s unclear whether GM actually intends to pursue a commercialized version. (A spokesman for the carmaker declined to comment or provide additional details on both concepts.)
Simcoe said the Cadillac eVTOL aircraft will use a 90 kWh electric motor to power four rotors to allow vertical takeoff and landing. It has less battery capacity than other eVTOL startups, such as the German Lilium, which uses 320kWh motors to power its five-person jet.
The AV and eVTOL concepts were not at the heart of GM’s announcements at CES. It was reserved for the carmaker’s new delivery and logistics spinoff business BrightDrop. But it was a welcome sight at an event that was reduced and scaled back as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Be very thankful to GM for refusing the virus to take all the pleasure out of CES.