CES 2025: Self-driving cars are everywhere, as are other transportation technology trends

Even before CES 2025 starts some trends are starting to emerge – or rather, some gaps are emerging. All the US and some European automakers that helped turn CES into an auto show were absent. Several Chinese automakers are filling the void, notably Zeekr, an EV brand owned by China’s Geely Holdings. Wey, the premium brand of Great Wall Motor, and Xpeng also have booths. West Hall in the Las Vegas Convention Center, where the majority of vehicles and transportation tech sets up, felt empty from the previous year. And notably, some of the biggest announcements have nothing to do with new EVs — or other products that might take up a lot of physical space. Toyota, for example, announced that the first phase of Woven City, a prototype city built on 175 hectares at the foot of Mount Fuji, has been completed and is looking for inventors and startups. Oh, and it’s also “exploring rockets.” Not exactly what could be showcased at CES. However, there is still transportation technology to be discovered. This year, autonomous vehicle technology has a bigger presence than ever, and what’s out there offers some clues as to how the rest of the year might shape up. This is the main theme found in the show. AI and Tier IV self-driving technology Japanese company presented at CES 2025 in Las Vegas. Image Credit: Kirsten Korosec Some of the largest exhibits at the Las Vegas Convention Center focus on self-driving technology. Autonomous vehicle companies that are developing (or have launched) robotaxi services like May Mobility, Japanese Tier IV companies, Waymo, and Zoox are all already there. Notably, Zoox also gave robotaxi rides to media leading up to CES and throughout the show. Automated technology is also emerging elsewhere, including agriculture-focused companies like John Deere and Kubota and startups like Polymath Robotics that are implementing self-driving systems in off-road environments. Perhaps the largest group of companies showing products that support automated driving and advanced driving assistance systems, including simulation, machine learning, sensors, and data integration. Even Honda entered the mix by announcing a new operating system called Asimo (yes, after the iconic robot) that will be integrated into the next-generation EV 0 Series and used to support ADAS features. Comma.ai is also on the scene. This startup, founded by George Hotz, has developed an open source driver assistance system and supporting hardware that can be installed into many modern vehicles to provide advanced driver assistance capabilities on par with Tesla Autopilot and GM’s hands-free Super Cruise system. Vay, which has put a driverless twist on the car-sharing function, also in Las Vegas – although not on the show floor. The startup, which set up shop in the city a few years ago, announced a major expansion of its service. Nvidia continues to work with everyone Jensen Huang, co-founder and CEO of Nvidia Corp., said during the Nvidia AI Summit Japan in Tokyo, Japan, Wednesday, November 13, 2024. SoftBank Group Corp. will be the first Nvidia customer to build a supercomputer based on the design Blackwell new chipmaker, a move to meet the growing demand in countries that want to achieve artificial intelligence. Photographer: Akio Kon/Bloomberg via Getty Images Image Credit:Akio Kon/Bloomberg / Getty Images Every year at CES, the transportation desk gets a series of announcements from Nvidia detailing the automakers, suppliers, and transportation partners that have signed on to use Nvidia technology , and 2025 is no different. What’s important, though, is Nvidia’s commitment to providing a self-driving stack, from tests and simulations to onboard supercomputers to cloud supercomputers. One prime example is Nvidia’s collaboration with Toyota. The two have worked together for years to help Toyota’s R&D unit develop, train, and validate AV technology, but this year, the two announced more concrete plans to have Nvidia technology power Toyota’s future vehicles, which now know it will be equipped with automatic driving. capabilities. Specifically, we will see Nvidia’s Drive AGX Orin System-on-a-Chip (SoC) and the safety-focused operating system DriveOS installed in Toyota’s next-generation vehicles. When it comes to Level 4 autonomous vehicle technology (meaning, a system that can drive itself without the need for a human to take over), Nvidia has more news to share. The chip maker is partnering with self-driving truck company Aurora Innovation and automotive supplier Continental which will see Nvidia’s Drive Thor SoC and DriveOS integrated into Aurora Driver, the Aurora AV system that Continental plans to mass produce in 2027. Finally, one of the partnerships that more surprising is with Uber. The transportation and delivery giant plans to use Nvidia’s new world model simulation tool, Cosmos, and its cloud-based AI supercomputing platform, DGX Cloud, to support the development of autonomous vehicle technology. Uber hasn’t revealed how it plans to use the tool, as it doesn’t develop its own AV technology. The company plans to cooperate with AV companies to bring self-driving services to the platform. New takes on screens Valeo is showing its panovision technology at CES 2025. Image Credit: Kirsten Korosec Screens are not new at CES. They have been everywhere for a while now. This year, there are several companies that are pushing the idea of ​​screens beyond traditional ideas. Supplier Valeo showed a novel product called panovision – and it will be in BMW’s next-generation Neue Klasse vehicles – which shows the whole screen at the base of the windshield. The company announced this technology at CES 2024. This year, the driver monitoring system in the cabin has been integrated into the system. Automotive supplier Hyundai Mobis showed off a holographic screen covering the entire windshield. From the outside it looks like any other windshield. But from behind the driver’s seat the windshield becomes a transparent screen that provides information like navigation and music playlists. Akio Toyoda, Chairman and Master Driver of Toyota, delivered an address at CES 2025, showing the company’s latest innovation in Las Vegas. a mix of generative AI hype – a trend that started last year. Even a casual observer may recognize the terms “genAI” “chatgpt” or “LLM” in the LVCC vehicle technology section. It’s everywhere – and nowhere, if you catch the drift. In some cases, there is a real partnership and plan behind the words. Take BMW and its partnership with Amazon. BMW is using CES 2025 to showcase its new in-car user interface, which will debut in the Neue Klasse sedan later this year and eventually spread to all models. BMW says it will use Amazon’s Alexa special assistant technology in these future vehicles as well as the ones on the road today. This is not a working Alexa app driver. This is a white label product that will incorporate Amazon’s big language model. The use of this technology will focus on navigation, in an effort to get customers to give more commands using natural language. BMW and Amazon will begin rolling out LLM-powered capabilities as part of a beta in select vehicles and countries. Meanwhile, Qualcomm arrived at CES with improvements to its Snapdragon Digital Chassis (a suite of cloud-connected platforms for automakers) and Cockpit (a digital cockpit and infotainment system). And it wouldn’t be CES 2025 if some of those updates didn’t include generative AI. The chipmaker said that various automotive suppliers – like Alps Alpine, Panasonic, and Garmin – as well as Indian carmaker Mahindra, plan to integrate Qualcomm technology into their experiences. The Generative AI feature now comes with the territory for an “intelligent and personalized in-cabin experience.” Some of the features powered by Meta’s Llama and OpenAI’s Whisper Small can look like real-time detection of distracted or drowsy driving; biometric identification to automatically adjust seat position, mirror angle, etc.; Navigation recommendations based on the driver’s country, like for a coffee shop if they look tired. Other potential use cases for Qualcomm’s generative AI offering could be multimodal AI that identifies points of interest along the route, using models like Llama, open-source LlaVa, and Fast Stable Diffusion, or even creating custom content to deliver personalized entertainment. passenger. Micromobility exists! Image Credit: Kirsten Korosec Finally, there is a lot of talk – and evidence – that micromobility is dead. But this is not true. Of course, the shared scooter and ebike business is struggling, or dying. But walking through the North Hall, we were struck by how many ebike and scooter brands (many of which were Chinese brands) were on display. Vmax released six new scooters for its 2025 lineup, Aima Technology Group announced several new ebikes, and Heybikes released a mid-drive fat tire model. Segment leader Segwey also launched two new ebikes equipped with smart technology and a feature the company calls the Intelligent Ride System. Verge Motorcycles subsidiary Donut Lab is also joining in and launching an electric motorcycle that can be integrated directly into tires.

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