By Dave Abrahams
Shanghai Motor Show - General Motors gives us a preview of its vision for the mobility of the future with the Chevrolet FNR concept, on show for the first time at Auto Shanghai 2015.
And the scary part is that almost all the technology it embodies is either current or could easily be extrapolated from existing technology, in much the same way as torque vectoring was developed by combining anti-lock braking with yaw sensors.
Created in Shanghai by GM's Pan Asia Technical Automotive Centre joint venture, the FNR is an 'intelligent' autonomous battery car, with an organic 'capsule' shape punctuated by crystal laser head and taillights, with somewhat impractical dragonfly dual swing doors that force the occupants to duck sharply in order to enter the cabin.
Its electric motors are contained within hubless wheels, and it recharges itself without cables or connections by simply parking over an inductive charging pad - a bigger version of those already available for smartphones and tablets.
LEARNING ITS WAY AROUND
It uses data from sensors and roof-mounted radar, together with innovative networking systems and proven satellite navigation software, to create a 'mental map' of the world around it, in much the same way that humans learn their way around a new environment, enabliNg it to drive itself - and even work out the quickest, shortest or most economical route to a given destination.
Now this is where it starts getting really spooky; the FNR has no key, and no transponder. It recognises its owner and people allowed to drive it (family, the mechanic at the local Chevrolet dealership) by means of iris scans, and it starts automatically.
Once it's underway and in self-driving mode, the front seats are unlocked and can swivel through 180 degrees to face the rear seats for a more intimate conversational setting - but if necessary a quick swivel and a swipe of the driver's hand across a touchscreen will switch the FNR back to manual control.