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| General Motors launches self-driving Cadillac |
Automaker General Motors displayed Cadillac luxury autonomous vehicles and the eVTOL electric single-seat take-off and landing aircraft at CES 2021.
Both cars are part of Cadillac's HALO product line and may not be produced soon or at all.
However, these concepts aim to demonstrate Cadillac's design intentions for future products and are also a symbol of luxury for the brand's manufacturing capabilities.
Cadillac's self-driving car concept is like a replica of the many autonomous shuttles transporting people we've seen in colleges and company sites around the world.
Independent Cadillacs lack traditional controls like the steering wheel and pedals, but they do have an interior very similar to the 1970s saloon.
Michael Simcoe, vice president of global design at General Motors, described the place as a social place where a group of friends or family members can spend time on their way to achieving their goals.
The car has an optical signal, a spacious glass roof, and a biometric sensor that reads the vital functions of the occupants and uses this data to determine parameters such as temperature, lighting, ambient noise, and even perfumes.
Other options such as voice control and gesture recognition ensure that these settings can be made easily.
The concept of an electric single-seat take-off and landing plane resembles a future version of some air taxi models under development.
Simcoe said it was General Motors' first attempt at air travel. While this is just design work, it is unclear if GM really intends to pursue a commercial release.
Simcoe said the Cadillac eVTOL aircraft uses 90 kW electric motors to power four vertical takeoff and landing propellers.
This means the battery has less capacity than other electric take-off and landing startups, such as Germany's Lilium, which uses a 320 kW engine to power its five seats.
The concept of Cadillac luxury self-driving cars and the eVTOL single-seat electric take-off and landing plane was not at the heart of the GM CES 2021 announcement.
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