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ALISTAIR WEAVER: Welcome to a special high tech
edition of "Edmunds RoadNoise," live-ish from the Consumer
Electronics Show in Las Vegas.
Over the next three minutes, we'll
be talking about the happy fusion of consumer tech
and automotive know-how.
Then we'll tell you what else we've been up to this week.
MARK TAKAHASHI: Starting things off
is the annual Edmunds CES Tech Driven Award.
Last year, Byton, the Chinese EV manufacturer
was here more as a startup.
This time around, they're a lot more tangible.
They're aiming to bring their base model
M-Byte to market by the end of 2020 for about $45,000.
They'll have 250 miles of range, which
should make it compete against the Tesla Model 3
on an even playing ground.
You can upgrade to an optional battery pack that will get you
to 325 miles, and a second electric motor
will get you all wheel drive as well.
ALISTAIR WEAVER: It's a key rival, the Tesla Model 3.
Although it's a Chinese brand, it's
actually engineered, developed, and designed in California.
In a more distant fanciful future,
Hyundai showed off the Elevate, which
was the second winner of out Tech Driven Awards.
The Elevate combines the best of robotic technology
with traditional automotive norms.
You get an electric motor in each wheel,
but some fancy robotic legs allow
it to bolt over difficult obstacles.
It's designed for disaster relief,
so if there's tsunami or a hurricane
and you come to a road that's caved in,
this vehicle will actually lift itself up and clamber over
the obstacle to reach those in need.
Will it make production?
MARK TAKAHASHI: Probably not, but it is super cool.
ALISTAIR WEAVER: It is super cool.
And maybe it will inspire something like it
in the future.
We like it.
MARK TAKAHASHI: Besides our usual awards for car makers,
we have one that's just outside of our wheelhouse.
ALISTAIR WEAVER: That's right.
We gave our third Tech Driven Award to Valeo
for their XtraVue trailer camera system.
And in case you're thinking, who the hell are Valeo,
well, they're a massive third party supplier.
And reality is you may well have Valeo technology on your car.
This is a very ingenious system.
It takes an image from a camera on the back of the trailer
and superimposes it on an image from the back of the car.
And what that allows it to do is to effectively alleviate
the blind spots that you'd normally
associate with [? towing. ?] We think
it'll make a big difference to safety,
and we expect to see debut on trucks across the US
within the next few months.
MARK TAKAHASHI: Also on the floor
are some actual car debuts.
First, from Mercedes.
ALISTAIR WEAVER: Mercedes showed off
the CLA, which is a version of the critically acclaimed new A
class.
Think of it as an A class with a slightly more
slopy coupe-esque roof and a bit less rear head room.
Nice though.
MARK TAKAHASHI: It is nice.
And I love, love, love the A class.
Also on the floor is the new Nissan Leaf Plus.
It should be here in the spring, and it
extends the regular Leaf's range of only 151 miles to 220.
And that should get it to compete with the Model 3,
the Kona, and the Chevy Bolt.
ALISTAIR WEAVER: It will make the Leaf a lot more
competitive and a lot more usable
for more people in real life.
That's a good thing.
In slightly more left field news,
Audi debuted a virtual reality system in partnership
with Disney, which provides content to rear seat passengers
and kind of moves with the car.
Which to be honest, making me feel a bit sick.
MARK TAKAHASHI: Yeah, I'm feeling a little queasy
just thinking about that.
ALISTAIR WEAVER: Away from the show,
some guy called Takahashi shows us how to wrap a car.
In this case, our Tesla Model 3, giving you the pros and cons.
So was it a wrap battle, or was it a wrap party?
MARK TAKAHASHI: It's a wrap, Alistair.
It's a wrap.
ALISTAIR WEAVER: Check-- check it out now.
Our own Kurt Niebuhr also gives us
a lowdown on the new Porsche 911 Cabriolet,
which they say will arrive just in time
for the end of the summer.
Well done Porsche.
And if you think CES is exciting,
standby for Detroit Auto Show, which starts next Monday.
We're heading up to Michigan on Sunday.
It's going to be cold.
Brr.
[INAUDIBLE] cold but exciting.
Ford's taking the wraps off their Shelby
GT500 and the new Explorer.
There'll be some sporty car from Toyota.
Supra!
And some heavy duty trucks.
MARK TAKAHASHI: That's it for this edition
of "Edmunds RoadNoise."
Leave a comment below and hit subscribe.
And also, check out all of our latest content
on edmunds.com/roadnoise.
ALISTAIR WEAVER: That's edmunds.com/roadnoise.
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