Chrysler Just Revealed a Concept Minivan That’s Straight Out of ‘Tron’
This electric vehicle is self-driving, has a 250-mile range, and features facial recognition technology.
Chrysler foresees a future that includes vehicles like this Portal concept car, which features a 100 kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery pack (like the one in the Tesla Model S P100D) that provides autonomous driving range of more than 250 miles.
The design incorporates the latest thinking on direct current quick charging, so it can replenish 150 miles of driving range in just 20 minutes using future 350 kilowatt fast chargers.
Inside, seats are mounted on tracks that let them slide fore/aft to provide maximum cargo space for those trips to Ikea. Portal’s floor is flat, with the battery pack beneath it, making it easier to slide those flat-pack boxes inside.
Passengers will be happy to discover the ten docking stations for recharging mobile devices, and an in-vehicle wireless network for continuous connection.
The concept car is currently Society of Automotive Engineers Level Three-certified for semi-autonomous driving. That means that under the right circumstances, the driver can turn over control to Portal’s computer. Because it is equipped with critical sensors like lidar, radar, visual and sonar, Portal is poised to accept future software upgrades to true SAE Level Four autonomy.
Even without that, Portal is pretty smart. Facial recognition technology lets it identify the driver and adjust preferences to suit them for things like lighting and music. It also supports vehicle-to-vehicle communication, so it can hear from other cars about potential crashes at intersections and approaching emergency vehicles.
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