No, this has nothing to do with Wall-E.
Electric mobility upstart NIO took to the SXSW Film Festival in Austin, Texas this week to unveil its latest concept car, the EVE. NIO, formerly known as NextEV, see the EVE as the personification of future mobility, and about how the car will evolve to encompass new roles once its passengers are relieved of driving duties.
NIO, backed by several Chinese venture-capital firms, have picked up staff from companies like Ford, Tesla, and Lyft, and the expertise involved is clear to see in the EVE concept. The EVE is designed as a multi-purpose mobility solution, able to ferry passengers over short commutes as well as long drives. The cabin of the EVE focuses on the sort of functionality that would be demanded by passengers of a fully-autonomous vehicle, with NIO’s U.S. CEO Ms. Padmasree Warrior describing the EVE as a “companion and mobile living area.”
With less emphasis on the driving aspect of things, the EVE ensures that passengers are well catered for as they’re shuttled from one point to another. To that end, the cabin glass doubles as smart displays, for infotainment functions. The EVE also packs something called ‘NOMI,’ an artificial-intelligence engine that controls the EVE, though manual override is still possible.
NIO intends to bring the EVE to market by 2020, an ambitious plan by any standards, considering that the EVE boasts a 965km operating range, and purportedly packs wireless charging capabilities that can give it 320km of range from just 10-minutes of juicing. Of course, these numbers will likely be revised for production, but NIO’s ambitions are very lofty indeed.
Check out our gallery below to see how NIO reckons we’ll be travelling in the future.
