You’ve already seen the major 2019 CES reveals: the new 226-mile Nissan Leaf PLUS, Harley-Davidson LiveWire electric motorcycle, Byton M-Byte and K-Byte electric SUV and sedan, Mercedes CLA, as well as the Toyota fuel cell-powered 18-wheeler and Lexus LS500h with the cool LIDAR holder on the roof, and let’s not forget the semi-creepy Hyundai Elevate large-dog-sized creepy crawly thing (that was in reality only about a quarter-scale model and therefore maybe not worth quite as much hype as it received). Nonetheless, there is still plenty more at CES that we found and at which you might want to take a gander.
The Bell Nexus air taxi
A couple weeks ago we got a ride in Elon Musk’s tunnel project that will skirt traffic by going under cities. This week we see a transportation alternative that will fly over them. CES marked the world debut of Bell Helicopter’s much-anticipated vertical-takeoff-and-landing (VTOL) air taxi Nexus, powered by a hybrid-electric propulsion system. Instead of one big rotor it has six tilting ducted fans that are parallel to the ground for take-off and landing, then tilt forward for standard flight. In between are a couple of wing surfaces. Bell earlier worked with Boeing to make the V-22 Osprey.
“As space at the ground level becomes limited, we must solve transportation challenges in the vertical dimension – and that’s where Bell’s on-demand mobility vision takes hold,” said Bell president and ceo Mitch Snyder.
Bell’s 6500-pound Nexus can carry five people, including a pilot, and can travel up to 150 miles at speeds up to 150 mph.
There were sizeable crowds at several CES panel discussions about flying cars and flying taxis this year.
“People are fascinated by them,” said panelist Doug Newcomb, a senior industry analyst at Wards Intelligence.
While the Bell Nexus will have a pilot, Newcomb and fellow panelists saw the coming wave of shuttle aircraft as autonomous and not the traditional flying cars we have all been waiting for.
“Pretty much everyone (on the panel) agreed that they are going to be autonomous. Consumers or regular people won’t be flying these things.”
Bell believes that “commercial operations will be viable in the mid-2020s,” while Uber wants to use something like the Bell Nexus for its own fleet of air taxi plans.
Furrion Adonis 78-foot yacht
This is the first yacht ever displayed at CES and it is a doozy. The 78-foot Adonis is just the thing for the evil oligarch on the go. Furrion makes luxury appliances and consumer electronics for yachts and RVs and this boat is loaded with them. Most notable is an artificial intelligence concierge called Angel, which learns your preferences and responds to your voice commands. I’ll have one of these parked at my secret lair on Harsen’s Island this summer. Come say hello. Just don’t scratch the sides with your leaky Boston Whaler.
Honda Autonomous Work Vehicle
This is an updated version of one of the autonomous all-terrain vehicles Honda showed at last year’s CES, and this one has actual real-world experience. It has acted as a mechanical mule at an orchard, a solar farm and it was used to help firefighters fight a real fire, according to a Honda spokesman. It’s based on Honda’s existing ATV platform and drivetrain, but instead of seats there is a big tray onto which you can load gear and then have the Work Vehicle follow you around to your job site or forest fire. Have an idea about how to use this or what to attach to it? Honda wants to hear from businesses with autonomous ATV ideas.
Kia R.E.A.D. system
The acronym stands for Real-time Emotion Adaptive Driving. It looks at your facial expression and heartbeat and “reads” your mood in order to try and calm you down if you’re angry or wake you up if you’re falling asleep. It’s like a co-dependent, enabling spouse only instead of begging you to stop screaming at the traffic it alters the a/c and interior lighting, plays music appropriate to the task and it might even fire up a seat massager. I feel calmer already.
Segway Ninebot GoKart
This bridges the gap on your racing ladder from Barbie Jeep to shifter karts. It’s closer to shifter karts (except it doesn’t actually shift). The best thing about it is that the frame is adjustable, accommodating drivers from 4’5” to 6’3”. Maximum load is 220 pounds, it’ll pull 0.7 g and has a drift brake, Thing is, you have to start out with the purchase of a Segway Ninebot S, one of those flat platform things you stand on and lean forward to go forward and backward to go backward. Once you get a Ninebot S for $489, then you pay an additional $799 to make the Ninebot S into this Ninebot GoKart. They left that detail out at the Segway booth, implying that the complete GoKart cost $799. If you can’t trust Segway…
Onewheel mono-skateboardish thing
This one-wheeler wubble first appeared about three years ago at a show outside CES. Now they’ve sold a bunch of them and raised the price. Put one foot on either side of the Vega-brand European karting tire, lean in the direction you want to go, and -zwap! – you’re off. The Onewheel tackles sand, rocks, dirt or sidwalks with equal aplomb. There are seemingly two sets of specs and two sets of pricing to cover the two models of Onewheel: the website says the top-of-the-line Onewheel +Xr has 12-18 miles of range and costs $1799. The powerful salesdude at the show said it went 20 miles at 25 mph and cost $1700. Likewise, the Onewheel+ on the website goes 5 to 7 miles and costs $1299, while the salesbro said it went 7 to 9 miles and cost $1400. If you can’t trust a salesbro who can you trust? Still haven’t ridden this but it looks fun in the vids.
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