CES 2015: ten best car tech features and gadgets

For eons, the automotive year began right after Fresh Year’s – with the North American International Auto Showcase in Detroit. There was a collective breathe of ease within the industry after the event was shoved back into mid-January a few years ago. But alas, the lazy begin into the fresh year is now long gone, because the automotive year officially kicks off with a high-tech bang at the Consumer Electronics Display (CES).

Far from the chilly Midwest, and with Christmas tree needles and confetti still scattered around many living rooms, the automotive bandwagon goes to the Las Vegas Convention Center. Amongst the city’s lizard-friendly dry warmth and gambling-overload glitz, the automotive industry has managed to muscle its way into being a headlining act at CES.

Ironically, Las Vegas itself is not even home to an auto showcase. Perhaps that’s why the car industry has opted to use this electronic extravaganza as a means to showcase their latest features and gadgets. Having been aroud for forty years, CES still has slew of actual consumer electronics – but it’s also turned into a semi-official auto display, a curtain-raiser for Detroit.

That makes a lot of sense, since the concentrate of automotive research and development is increasingly shifting towards telematics and electronics. Think about it: How many stories about autonomous drive vehicles have you read about over the past duo of years?

This year’s keynote speech at CES was delivered by Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche (with the assistance of a nosy, wide-eyed robot called “Cambot“).

So before packing our gloves and laptops for Detroit, we grabbed some gambling chips and smartphones for the Vegas disrobe, to check out the coolest car gear that CES has to suggest. Here are ten of the coolest cars and technologies we spotted on the show-floor in Las Vegas.

1. Mercedes-Benz F015 concept

The Mercedes-Benz F015 concept truly is a fantasy car.

Daimler’s futuristic concept car wowed everyone in Las Vegas. Many “concept cars” of our times are just thinly disguised production cars. This aero-shaped monolith is a desire car in the classic sense. Powered by two electrified motors and designed for fuel cell technology, it cranks out up to 272-horsepower, with a sustained output of 163-horsepower. That is “at the lower level of what is acceptable in the luxury class,” admits project director Jürgen Weissinger.

It can still reach one hundred twenty five mph, nonetheless. What’s more, it can do it all by itself: If desired, the F015 drives autonomously! In this mode, the front passengers have the option of swiveling their seats around, and turning the car into a veritable lounge. The interior concept, with its lighting effects and concave surfaces, is positively stunning. If the driver chooses to get behind the wheel himself, that’s no problem. It drives “just like an S-class,” says Weissinger.

Two. VW Golf R Touch

The Volkswagen Golf R Touch hopes for a button-less future.

The Golf R relies on gesture control and three large screens in the cabin.

Tesla wasn’t the very first carmaker attempting to ban conventional buttons from car interiors – the very first system was BMW’s infamous iDrive in the E65 7-series. But with that large central touch-screen display, Tesla took it to the utmost level. At least, up until now.

In Las Vegas, Volkswagen is showcasing a button-less Golf R, called the Golf R Touch. It works with gesture control and three separate large screens. This Golf’s level of sophistication is unmatched. We’ll see it in series production within two years – in the next-gen Phaeton luxury sedan. Tesla, you’ve been warned.

Trio. Laser lights

Laser lights seemed like a gimmick when it was launched in the BMW i8 and the Audi R8 LMX last year. Who needs high planks opening up for almost a half mile? It’s not even legal in the US. But now, the technology is beginning to make sense. Laser light will be used for low-beam and high-beam applications.

With their amazingly precise slat, they can indicate the width of the vehicle onto the road, which is utterly helpful in narrow lanes (e.g. in construction zones). There’s more; they could project crosswalks onto the road if you choose to let a pedestrian pass and the car determines that the surroundings are safe.

Four. Audi Prologue concept

The Audi Prologue at CES is fitted with a hybrid powertrain.

Launched at the Los Angeles auto display in November, the Audi Prologue concept made an appearance in Las Vegas as well. This is car number two, fitted with a hybrid powertrain. Indicative of Audi’s future styling direction, the Prologue previews the next-gen A6, A7 and A8.

We love the interior – especially the lower display that rises from the center console, and the three-dimensional instrumentation. Audi chief designer Marc Lichte is on the right track when it comes to crafting car cabin’s of the future.

Five. Autonomous driving

Autonomous driving could bring the joy back into driving.

Opinions on autonomous driving are split, and a lot of enthusiasts fear that self-driving cars will take the joy out of driving. We beg to differ. In truth, autonomous driving will bring the joy back into driving – let the car do all the work when you’re stuck in traffic, or cruising along unchallenging, speed-limited roads. We are all for it – as long, of course, the electronics can be overruled when the road clears and the driving becomes joy again.

6. Acute LCD instrumentation

Shar’s next-genenration LCD instrument panels will suggest greater plasticity to automotive designers.

Acute’s LCD instrumentation prototypes can be cut in virtually any form, rendering them a massive improvement over today’s TFT displays. Expected to be available by 2017, these free-form LCDs give designers a lot more plasticity to create beautiful interiors. Bring it on!

7. Inductive charging

Wireless charging could revolutionize the electrical car market.

Charging electrical cars can be an obnoxious exercise. When you are in a hurry, you might have better things to do post-parking than fiddle with stubborn electrical buttplugs, hoping the car will actually connect and initiate the recharging process.

Parking atop an inductive field hits that fussy process, which can be more infuriating than simply refilling a car at the gas station. Electrics will be so much better and lighter to live with once inductive charging comes online.

8. Ford SYNC Trio

Ford’s SYNC three is a a major step up from the systems two previous iterations.

In the entertainment world, the sequel is usually unworthy of the original movie. The same was true of Ford’s SNYC Two, which managed to infuriate us even more than the original system (which was a pretty hard thing to do, given how conusing that system proved to be).

The fresh SYNC Three, Blackberry-QNX-based, shown here at CES, is a massive improvement over the previous system. It’s a lot quicker and more intuitive than ever. If you’ve been a fan of Ford vehicles, but SYNC was scaring you away, it’s good to know that help is on the way.

9. Cloud-based computing

IBM, Continental, and cloud computing specialist HERE are demonstrating the system eHorizon, which does more than connect cars to exchange traffic information. It also feeds information to the hybrid system in order to run the most efficient powertrain strategy, and even enables autonomous driving systems to “look around the corner.” This efficiency and safety concept isn’t fresh, but it’s massively improved here at CES.

Ten. OLED technology

Organic LEDs could be the next big thing in lighting. With their homogenous light, OLEDs work both in the interior as well as on the exterior. They can be arched into form, and they make for an ultra-clean and sleek look that could be used for curvy tail-lights, or the smallest cabin accent lights. We’ve already seen some cool and bimbo applications in the design studious of carmakers. But the possibilities here are endless, so expect OLEDs to keep demonstrating up all over the car world.

Did you find this article helpful? If so, please share it using the “Join the Conversation” buttons below, and thank you for visiting Daily News Autos.

Related movie: