Chevrolet FNR Autonomous Concept Looks Too Good to Be Self-Driving
By. Mohamed Adel
Look at this crazy thing. It’s perfect. It’s like a sports car escaped
from the Blade Runner prop room and came to life. It’s the world’s angriest
roller skate. It’s the future we all dreamed about when we were 10, where the
cars on the street look like wacky Hot Wheels concepts. It’s the Chevrolet FNR
concept that was just introduced at the Shanghai Auto Show, and it’s perfect,
except for one tiny thing: It’s autonomous. Sigh.
Chevy says the concept offers “a glimpse at the mobility of the future,”
which we agree with 100 percent. We would love for the future to look like
this, all curves and angles and double-bubble cockpit and hollow-center wheels
and everything. We’re even cool with the fact that it’s electric, the better to
motivate those magnetic hubless wheels and power up with wireless charging.
Reading the press release describing the Chevrolet FNR concept is like
perusing the spec sheet of a comic book hero’s spaceship-mobile. Crystal laser
headlights? Yep. “Dragonfly” doors? Hell yeah. A security system that uses an
iris scanner to recognize the driver? Radical! Gesture control? But of course.
It’s all going well
until you read about the roof-mounted radar and perimeter sensors that “map out
the environment to enable driverless operation.” And the Chevy Intelligent
Assistant software that chooses your route so you can just keep texting. The
front seats swivel around to face the rear passengers while the car is in
autonomous mode, all the better for avoiding eye contact while you play Angry
Birds for the five hundred millionth time. After all, Chevy says the concept
aimed to create a “unique, intelligent vehicle for tomorrow’s younger
consumers.”
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