Breaking cover at the just finished New York International Auto Show, the Kia HabaNiro is a compact SUV concept like no other. Several of the brand’s claims sounded more like science fiction than reality but then again, we are dealing with a futuristic fully electric concept here, so Kia can be given a fair slice of poetic license and significant latitude to put forward some wild if not thought-provoking ideas.
Like four supercar-like butterfly doors that open upwards giving passengers easy access to a blindingly red interior. Not that practical in the real world as we’ve seen with the Tesla Model X, but every concept car that wants to make a statement must have them, right?
Kia’s claimed range of over 300 miles and level 5 autonomy are features we’ve learned to nod and yawn at over the past few years as every manufacturer makes similar claims. Okay, 300 miles is doable today, I’ll admit, but with governments around the world stuck in reams of red tape, and arguments surrounding who is responsible in fatal self-driving crashes, level 5 autonomy seems about as achievable in my lifetime as ‘beam me up Scotty’ teleportation.
Now back to reality. The Habaniro sits on the Niro EV platform which is a good place to start. Kia sees this crossover as a commuter that can get you to work, can be used as a mobile office, or with a motor on each axle of its 4WD drivetrain, can even stretch its legs onto off-road environs.
But that’s all pretty straightforward stuff. Where the story gets interesting is with the techno-wizardry inside the car. First seen at CES in January, Kia’s READ technology, short for Real-time Emotion Adaptive Driving, uses biometric scanning, artificial intelligence and an advanced eye tracking system to analyse the driver’s emotional state and intention by monitoring vitals that include heartbeat and eye movement.
If the READ system detects sadness or irritation in the driver, it will play suitable music to counter the ill-feeling. This car can almost read your mind. If it senses fatigue it will automatically dispense a scent into the cabin to sharpen the driver’s senses and lift alertness levels. Kind of like a coffee break without the coffee.
It also has an active windshield onto which images are projected giving drivers all the info they need. That’s right, the whole windshield acts like a giant heads-up display. In autonomous mode, the car turns into a theater for four as the inside of the windshield becomes a picture screen allowing you to watch movies while on the move. And it sends information to that HUD through small, swipeable touchscreen panels on the dash.
Yet another feature of this radical windshield is its lack of a rearview mirror. When you want to see what’s behind you, the driver just glances up to where a rearview mirror would normally be, and the hi-definition 100-degree windscreen-wide image of what’s behind you is automatically projected across the entire top section of the windscreen.
And the visibility revolution doesn’t end there. The rearview mirror might have been eliminated but so have the A-pillars which are now essentially see-through. With screens embedded in A-pillars carrying live video from cameras mounted on the car’s exterior, all a driver needs to do is turn their head and the A-pillar switches instantly to transparent mode allowing you to see your blind spots.
Kia’s concept is like Minority Report meets i-Robot meets Transformers, and while the Habaniro’s level 5 autonomy will live in the world of what might be possible one day, much of the other hi-tech gizmos, using AI and eye tracking technology, will eventually find their way into production cars in the near future.
