Each year at CES the world’s biggest and most innovative companies showcase exciting (and sometimes very strange) tech for your house, from impressive TVs to clever kitchen gadgets. But CES is also where the giants of automotives come to show their wares, and 2023 was a particularly fun show for car enthusiasts.
Sustainability and environmental friendliness are growing trends in every segment of the tech industry, so it’s a no-brainer to see more electric vehicles and related innovations at CES 2023. Here are some of the best.
Mercedes Benz Vision EQXX is a sexy EV that makes gas guzzlers drool
Mercedes
The Vision EQXX concept car was designed from the ground up and can travel up to 620 miles on a full charge without adding additional bulky batteries, making this concept car the most efficient Mercedes to date. The EQXX has an AI avatar like K.I.T.T. from Knight Rider, only more futuristic; all of this is on a single free-floating display. I need to figure out which I find more attractive, the interior or the exterior.
Verge TS Ultra Motorcycle has serious Tron vibes
Verge Motorbikes
The Verge TS line is coming to the US in 2023. The high-end Ultra will have a top speed of 124 mph and be able to charge quickly in 25 minutes, making it the coolest bike on the block. With an estimated 233 miles on a full charge, the Ultra puts out 201 horsepower. The bike can go 0-60 mph in 2.5 seconds. The motor is located in the rear rim, giving the bike a lower center of gravity and allowing for a larger battery in the bike frame. The Ultra will cost you $44,900. If that’s too rich for your blood, there are two other models: the TS Pro for $29,900 and the TS for $26,900.
Who needs an outlet when you have a Squad?
Squad
The Squad is a two-passenger car with a small solar panel on its roof that offers up to 19.2 miles on a sunny day. The golf cart-style vehicle can travel up to 60 miles on a single full charge. The powertrain consists of two 2-kilowatt rear in-wheel motors powered by four 1.6kWh batteries that are swappable. It has a top speed of just under 30 mph. The car has four-wheel disc brakes, seat belts and a roll cage for safety. It may not be the sportiest car on the block, but it saves you money both at the pump and with its US price of $6,250.
Ride a bike in the snow
Moonbikes
The Moonbike is a 163-pound rideable that’s part snowmobile, part bike. It can support a rider weight of 264 pounds, puts out 170 nm of torque and hits a top speed of 26 mph. The latest Moonbike adds mobile support for its products, with an iOS and Android app that allows riders to track their trails and altitude, and connect with other moonbikers. The bike is currently retailing for $8,900.
BMW’s concept car doubles as your buddy
Technology can be so impersonal. BMW’s i Vision Dee hopes to fix that. Using sophisticated AI, this concept car ditches the servant schtick of Siri and Alexa. Instead, it hopes to double as both your car and your friend. The i Vision Dee is an EV sports car with an exterior made up of 240 E Ink panels. You can use those panels to program a digital face into the car’s grille — because it’s an EV, the ventilation that a grille typically provides isn’t needed — or change the car’s colors at the click of a button.
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The BMW i Vision Dee is for now, just a concept, but some of its features will trickle out to BMW’s actual cars. BMW CEO Oliver Zipse said, for instance, that the AI-powered HUB technology the company put into the i Vision Dee will come to real cars in 2025. — Daniel Van Boom
A flying car is actually happening, for real this time
Bree Fowler/CNET
We’ve been waiting on flying cars since at least the Jetsons, and we now appear on the precipice of realizing that dream. And by
