Coolest Car Tech From CES 2025
The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas is a massive event, and it’s also become a major showcase for the future of automotive technology. This year’s show, with its 141,000 attendees, offered a glimpse into the innovations set to shape the driving experience in the years to come.
Beyond the familiar consumer electronics, carmakers, suppliers, and aftermarket equipment makers were out in force showcasing everything from all-new vehicle models to software solutions for autonomous driving and the latest dashcams. Here are some of the technologies that caught our attention at the show.
BMW Panoramic iDrive
BMW unveiled its next-generation iDrive infotainment system at CES 2025, which features a dashboard-spanning screen, an available 3D head-up display, a new steering wheel, and a clear central display. This system is powered by the new BMW Operating System X.
Since its debut in the early 2000s, iDrive has been a conversation starter because of its user-interface complexity. BMW has steadily improved the system over the years, and this latest iteration seems to be the most powerful and intuitive yet. BMW plans to incorporate the updated system in all of its new models beginning in late 2025.
Honda 0 Series
Honda presented its electric 0 Series vehicles, giving show attendees a preview of the company’s future design direction. The 0 Saloon and 0 SUV prototypes feature a design that Honda says is very close to the final production versions slated for a 2026 launch.
The 0 Series Saloon sports a low, wedge-shaped front – reminiscent of a Lamborghini – coupled with a sloping roofline and a tapered rear. The extremely short overhangs foreshadow the electric drivetrain. The design makes a rear window hard to discern, and even if it exists, visibility out of the rear should be limited.
The Honda 0 SUV showcases a dramatically different design. Besides the ultra-modern headlights, the front two-thirds of the SUV maintain a traditional profile with a slim cabin, but behind the rear wheels, its body is truncated. The tailgate boasts a U-shaped LED band and a slim horizontal window.
Honda has yet to announce the powertrain details, pricing, or estimated range of the 0 Series.
Toyota’s Rocket Ambitions
While vehicles like the Toyota Supra and Lexus LC offer impressive acceleration, they pale in comparison to Toyota’s newly announced ventures into building rockets. The company is investing in Interstellar Technologies, a Japanese startup, to assist in mass-producing rockets.
The automaker will invest about $44 million and lend its manufacturing experience to the startup. Toyota Chairman Akio Toyoda stated, “We are exploring rockets too, because the future of mobility shouldn’t be limited to just earth or just one car company, for that matter,” in what seemed to be a sly dig at Tesla’s SpaceX subsidiary.
Toyota Woven City
Toyota isn’t just focused on cars and rockets. The first phase of Toyota Woven City has been completed, and the initial wave of researchers and residents are expected this fall. The project is a prototype community designed to test new mobility options and other technologies in a controlled setting with constant feedback from the residents.
Located near Japan’s Mount Fuji, the first 100 residents will comprise employees of Toyota and its partners. The population will increase over time, with later phases accommodating up to 2,000 residents, including individuals not affiliated with the company. The city is located on the site of a former Toyota factory, which was closed and moved to a new location in an earthquake zone to support its economic recovery.
Pebble Flow Trailer
The Pebble Flow trailer, first introduced as a concept at last year’s CES, appeared in production-ready prototype form. This travel trailer features a series of innovative features, including a massive battery pack that charges just like an electric vehicle.
The battery, which can also be charged from its 1.1-kW rooftop solar array, powers the trailer’s standard functions and provides a power boost to lessen the load on the vehicle pulling it. A fully charged battery can power a typical campsite for up to seven days. It can also act as a home battery backup, providing power during outages.
To simplify towing and maneuvering, the Pebble Flow can be powered by remote control, giving it the ability to move short distances on its own. Employing advanced vision systems, the trailer can autonomously connect itself to the towing vehicle, which can be powered by an EV or an internal combustion engine. Prices range from $109,500 to $175,000, with initial deliveries scheduled for this spring.
Elaphe Sonic.1 In-Wheel Motors
Most modern EVs have their electric motors mounted on the front and/or rear axles. However, Slovenian company Elaphe is taking a different approach, with electric motors that fit inside the wheels themselves. These can even be used with existing wheel and brake designs.
This idea offers some impressive benefits. First, they can deliver significant power – up to 272 continuous horsepower (347 peak horsepower) to each front wheel with the Sonic.1 system. Second, they offer more finite and faster individual wheel control than a motor that distributes power between two wheels. This may not be significant while cruising down the highway, but it matters greatly when the vehicle must respond to changing conditions, such as on a racetrack, an icy road, or an off-road trail. The ability to instantly apply or reduce power to each wheel can be the difference between maintaining or losing control. In addition to performance advantages, the in-wheel motors are lighter and require less space than traditional electric motors. Elaphe is working with multiple automakers to incorporate the technology.
Italdesign’s Quintessenza Concept
Is it a supercar or a pickup truck? The Italdesign Quintessenza was the design firm’s CES showpiece. The vehicle is a wild design study with a four-seat cabin, butterfly doors, and rear seats that can rotate to face the hardtop convertible cargo bed.
The cabin is both simple and elegant, with yoke-style steering and vehicle functions managed by a smartphone. The vehicle is powered by four Elaphe in-wheel motors. Italdesign was founded by Giorgetto Giugiaro and Aldo Mantovani, the designers behind some of the world’s most iconic vehicles, including the Volkswagen Golf and DeLorean DMC-12.
The All-New Aptera Lets You Ride With the Sun
Imagine an electric car that rarely needs to be plugged in because it can gather its energy from the sun. The Aptera promises to deliver on this promise. Based on designs from previous companies dating back to 2006, the Aptera is a two-seat, three-wheel hatchback that can gain up to 40 miles of range daily thanks to electricity generated by its roof- and hood-mounted solar panels.
Its battery pack can store sufficient energy for up to 400 miles on a single charge. It can also be recharged via external charging stations, like traditional EVs. The company debuted a production-ready vehicle at this year’s CES. It features an airplane-like fuselage with outriggers on the front wheels. The rear wheel is housed in an aerodynamic casing.
Aptera is targeting a 2025 production start date with a price of $40,000 for the launch edition. The company claims to have secured nearly 50,000 pre-orders for the vehicle.
Xpeng AeroHT Flying Car
Flying cars have been a staple of science fiction since the 1960s. The Xpeng AeroHT, a two-seat flying car, offered a glimpse of this future at CES 2025. It was shown alongside its “Land Aircraft Carrier,” designed to carry the six-rotor electric copter in its “trunk.”
The Chinese manufacturer claims that users can learn to fly the aircraft in five minutes and become “proficient” in approximately three hours. An autonomous mode allows the copter to fly from one point to another, with one-touch takeoff and landing. The company expects deliveries of the system to start in 2026.
Vueroid S1 4K Infinite Dashcam
Several dashcams were on display at CES, but South Korea’s Vueroid S1 Infinite stood apart by eschewing extras or required subscriptions. The focus is on being a dashcam that can capture exceptionally clear 4K, 60-frames-per-second video, which it can safely save, even if the unit loses power.
The companion app uses artificial intelligence to enhance blurry license plates so they can be read. It also utilizes AI to protect the privacy of bystanders by blurring their faces. The camera system features a low-power parking surveillance mode so the camera can wake up quickly if something hits the vehicle, without excessive battery drain. The camera system, with front and rear views, is expected to launch in the second quarter of 2025 at an MSRP of $349.99.
TUC Technologies Modular Dashboard
This technology may seem slightly geeky, but TUC Technology, a company based in Italy, has created apparatuses and software utilizing standardized modular connectors. These connectors can be used to connect various vehicle systems, carrying power and data, and making physical connections.
What does this mean? Imagine a situation where you can purchase your vehicle with an 8-inch infotainment screen and upgrade to a 12-inch display when your budget allows it. Does your wireless charging pad take up too much center console space? You can simply move it to a different plug on the dashboard. You could potentially change your instrument panel and transmission shifter style, as each will fit in a common attachment port. You could even have a car that can shift from left- to right-hand steering simply by moving its steer-by-wire steering wheel from one side of the vehicle to the other, or swap it for a steering yoke. While the company pursues automotive and aerospace applications, its benefits in the powersports and ATV markets are easy to imagine.
From Sony and Honda Comes the Afeela 1
A joint project between Sony and Honda will produce its first vehicle in 2026. The Afeela 1 will be built at a new Honda electric vehicle manufacturing center in Ohio. It is a conservatively styled luxury electric fastback hatch, designed to focus on entertainment and gaming as much as driving performance.
The Afeela 1 Signature trim will be priced at $102,900 upon its arrival in mid-2026. A $89,900 model will follow in 2027. It will only be sold in California initially, with potential expansion to other markets yet to be announced. The car features semi-autonomous driving capabilities using 40 sensors arrayed around the car, including a roof-mounted lidar unit. All-wheel drive comes standard with 180-kW electric motors mounted on the front and rear axles. The company forecasts a range of 300 miles from a single charge.
Stryten Energy Mobile Microgrid
If your company manufactures a mobile microgrid that can deliver significant amounts of electric power to disaster zones, a highly modified Jeep is the perfect delivery vehicle. The vehicle, named Reluctance, began as a standard Jeep Wrangler before receiving a custom hybrid powertrain and large battery power system in its bed.
Stryten Energy, an energy storage solutions company based in Georgia, built the vehicle to demonstrate its ability to deploy a portable power solution to any part of the globe. The system uses proprietary software to charge the battery using external power or very quickly through the Jeep’s hybrid diesel engine. It can then distribute electricity wherever it’s needed. The company produces fixed and portable power solutions, using several different types of batteries, including lead, lithium, and vanadium chemistries. They provide services to utilities, commercial and industrial facilities, the military, and first responders.
Self-Driving Mobileye VW ID. Buzz
Mobileye’s self-driving technologies were on display at CES, and while the company showed the technology in 2023, the vehicle it’s installed on is new to America. The electric minivan is a Volkswagen ID. Buzz. It’s the short-wheelbase model that is only available in Europe, but it’s still an attention-getting vehicle, especially when covered in black and gold.
The Mobileye Drive autonomous driving test vehicle includes several sensors, including nine high-resolution cameras, three long-range lidar sensors, four parking cameras, and six short-range lidars.
Mobileye has worked with the Volkswagen Group for a long time and provides safety and driver-assistance technologies in cars that are currently on the market.
RheoLight Lets Cars See at Night
Modern cars utilize a variety of sensors to enhance safety and support advanced driver-assistance technologies. However, these sensors don’t all see colors the same way. Just like the human eye, they can struggle to identify different-colored objects, particularly during twilight and nighttime hours.
A company from the Netherlands offers a solution to help improve the situation. RheoLight Crystal Glass Pigments are perfectly round glass “microspheres” that can be added to paints, making those paints substantially more reflective to the human eye and the sensors in vehicles. The two scooters in the photo above highlight the technology; during the day, they display a similar shade of gray, but they look noticeably different at night. According to the company, a vehicle’s cameras and lidars gain similar visibility, making systems such as automatic emergency braking more effective. The product, a paint additive, can improve the visibility of other cars, trucks, motorcycles, bicycles, and even the helmets of vulnerable road users.
CES is an enormous event, making it impossible to highlight everything we discovered. Beyond the technologies already mentioned, many companies showcased hardware and software systems used to support autonomous driving, advance electric battery technology, bolster safety systems, and improve infotainment and connected car functions. Some of this technology is already available, while other developments are years away from the production line. Many concepts are answering questions that car shoppers haven’t even begun to consider.
