BMW has seen the future, and it looks like a pretty smooth ride for all the humans simply too busy to drive their own car. The BMW VISION NEXT 100, a concept car that should help you forgive the future for consistently disappointing you, gives theoretical owners two options for driving slow to "Drive Slow."
Boost Mode lets the driver "become one" with the vehicle so as to increase "driving pleasure," according to a press release. Ease Mode, as its name implies, opts for comfort over intensity by letting the so-called "Companion" take over driving duties:
"If, as a designer, you are able to imagine something, there's a good chance it could one day become reality," Adrian van Hooydonk, Head of BMW Group Design, said in a statement. "So our objective with the BMW VISION NEXT 100 was to develop a future scenario that people could engage with." Part of that future, Hooydonk insists, involves achieving an emotional relationship with one's automobile.
"What will also persist in the future is that cars should have an emotional design and offer very emotional driving experiences," Hooydonk said. By BMW's best estimations, technology isn't going to go full Minority Report by becoming scarier and scarier in the decades ahead. Instead, technology will "become more human" by increasing the ease of communication between man and machine.
Keeping the viability of our planet in mind (what up Tesla?), the fabric inside the concept car is made of recycled materials, while the side panels are built from carbon fiber. All of these hella impressive bells and whistles aim to turn the average or even outright shitty driver into what BMW calls "the Ultimate Driver." Up for the challenge? Ready to ditch that clunker you've been cruising around in that kind of smells like old Cheetos?
See you in the future.
