It was only a matter of time before the big tuner companies started to create their own takes on the autonomous car. We figured it would probably be shortly after self-driving vehicles actually hit the streets, but Swiss fettler Rinspeed decided that a mere detail like the not-quite-readiness of the technology wasn’t going to slow it down. So it’s bringing a self-driving BMW i8 concept to the Consumer Electronics Show next month. The Rinspeed Etos, as it’s known, has both a fold-away steering wheel that stows itself invisibly when not needed and, because 2016, its own drone.
We’re told that this is the personal project of Rinspeed supremo Frank M. Rinderknecht, and it’s fair to say that the official release?which we suspect the car may have translated itself?doesn’t shy away from the temptation to sing the boss’s praises: “As always the Swiss mastermind approaches the mega topic of ‘self-driving cars’ primarily from the perspective of the driver and the occupants,” it says, “and as always, he garnishes his concept with a host of inspiring and emotionally appealing highlights.”
There are plenty of these. The Etos features a steering wheel that motors itself away into the dashboard when not in use, twin 21.5-inch curved display monitors, a camera system with virtual mirrors that only activate when a driver looks at them, active eye-tracking to monitor what the driver has seen and what he or she h...