Automobili-D offered a showplace for a whole array of new mobility and connected vehicle technologies — everything from tech talks to mapping systems to Michigan's autonomous-vehicle testing locations. It even offered a look at a bladeless drone prototype courtesy of West Bloomfield's John Mohyi.
Stretching across much of Cobo Center's lower level this week during the auto show's media and industry preview days, Automobili-D will be a memory when the rest of the public gets to see the show Saturday. But the Free Press still wanted to give a snapshot of some of the cooler things we saw and some you might see on roads in the future.
Scooters?
A flurry of small, electric scooters whizzed around and through the crowds checking out displays inside and outside the hall that housed most of the Automobili-D offerings.The most noticeable of the bunch, the URB-E, is already on sale via the company's website, www.urb-e.com. The fun-to-ride "e-vehicle" is foldable for carrying, can go 14-18 miles per hour depending on the model and has a battery that can act as a mobile power station for other devices.
"I think we're really on the leading edge of personal transportation," said Grant Delgatty, chief creative officer and cofounder of the Pasadena, Calif., company.
The multi-holed design of the scooter's aluminum posts helps keep the weight down to 30-35 pounds, and it could easily fit in the trunk of a car, making more viable the beginning or end of a commute to either a parking garage or a transit stop. Delgatty said the battery could charge an iPhone 7 forty times, and it gives the scooter a range of 16-20 miles.
Prices range from $899 to $1,999.
Heads up!
Distracted drivers are legion and plenty dangerous, but what if they no longer had a reason to fumble for their phones or take their eyes off what's ahead? That's the basic promise of the navdy, a device that mounts on your dash in front of your steering wheel. On a small, see-through screen, it can display vehicle navigation, text messages, and how fast you're driving or the song you're hearing, and the display can be changed with a gesture or a steering wheel-mounted dial.The San Francisco-based company Navdy brought its head-up display device to the show, and many visitors took note (check out the device yourself at navdy.com). Not everyone is sold on the safety of such technology. Time, in its report on the device, referenced a University of Toronto study calling such displays a threat to safety because they force the driver to concentrate on more than just the road. But a Navdy official told Time that the devices are safer than texting while driving.
At $799, the device might seem pricey, but Keith Cotterill, the company's vice president of strategic accounts, noted what it can do for the millions of cars on the road that lack modern tech touches.
"I have a 2007 Golf GTI; when I put this in, it modernized it," he said.
In a sign that the device will likely show up in many more vehicles, Navdypartnered with Harman International last year.
A mobile SOS office
Tired of waiting in line to pick up a new license plate? What if your license plate could be changed digitally?Reviver, a San Francisco company, unveiled its rPlate at Automobili-D, and if the company's plans come to fruition, the "first-ever digital license plate" might some day have a place on cars and trucks in Michigan. Currently, the plates are only in use in limited form in California, but the company expects them to launch in Florida, Arizona and Texas this year.
The company is touting the functionality of changing a license plate, something it says has not changed in 125 years.
Founder and CEO Neville Boston said the rPlate could help address what is now considered hassle for many who have to travel to the Department of Motor Vehicles, or in Michigan, a Secretary of State branch.
"Everyone has a certain thought about the DMV — good, bad or indifferent," Boston said.
The initial target market for the company is fleet sales, but officials said they could look to individual consumers down the road.
The rPlate is black, and its display is 6 inches by 12 inches, the "same size as a standard license plate, and its anti-reflective screen is legible in all weather conditions," according to the company.
Beyond the standard license plate information, rPlate could also be used to display advertising or other messages.
Big and energy efficient
Talk about a souped-up ride. General Motors engineers have taken a Colorado ZR2 pickup with full off-road capabilities and turned it into a zero-emissions monster.The Colorado ZH2 is a hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicle, and starting in April, the Army will have it for a year.
"This is just to prove it out," Blake Osecki, of GM's Hydrogen Fuel Cell Group in Pontiac, said of the possibilities.
The truck, which looks ready for service with its camouflage hood design, has been undergoing calibrations at the company's Milford Proving Grounds, but this week, it was on display at Automobili-D.
Osecki said it takes only three to five minutes to refuel the vehicle with compressed hydrogren, which combines with oxygen to produce electricity. The result is not only power — the truck can provide more of that than it needs, enough for a blow dryer for a block of homes — but water instead of tailpipe pollutants.
"It's nearly potable, and you'd get about 2 gallons an hour under normal operation," Osecki said.
Is that a bike or... ?
German auto supplier Schaeffler showed off one of its two Bio-Hybrid concept, a four-wheeled, pedal- and electric-powered ride.It's a one-seater with room for a child seat, is about 5 feet high and almost 7 feet long, and has a windshield and stowable roof protection as well as two storage areas on its rear. Because of its speed restriction of fewer than 16 m.p.h., the "electrically assisted drive system" means no license would be needed. On pedal power alone, a strong cyclist could take it faster.
It also features smartphone connectivity and automatic gear shifting.
The Bio-Hybrid is not likely to hit the U.S. anytime soon. Schaeffler representative Patrick Seidel said the company will instead focus on the European market because of better bicycle infrastructure.
©2017 the Detroit Free Press Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
