Automotive Tech Moves Onward at CES 2025
CES, shorthand for the Consumer Electronic Show, has become a key event for the announcement of automotive news, all of it with a technology focus. CES 2025 was no different with several concept and new vehicle reveals, and technological advancements that will be part of new cars in the coming years.
This is a look, alphabetically, at some of what was announced at CES 2025, held at the Las Vegas Convention Center, January 7-10. CES is a trade-only show, so if you want to attend next year make your plans here.
- BMW: Panoramic iDrive and the Operating System X
BMW was all about the digital customer experience at this year’s CES with the introduction of the Panoramic iDrive, which is backed by a new operating system, BMW Operating System X. The new OS is heavy on AI.
Stephan Durach, senior vice president connected company for the BMW Group, says “It offers intuitive operation, emotionally engaging experiences and demonstrates the potential of a software-defined vehicle. The expanded intelligence of BMW Operating System X makes it possible to combine the BMW Panoramic Vision, optional BMW 3D Head-Up Display, central display and multifunction steering wheel with one another in such a way that physical and digital experiences merge.”
Adrian van Hooydonk, senior vice president BMW Group Design, offered: “The new BMW Panoramic iDrive not only makes our vehicles smarter and more user-friendly, it also enables much more extensive personalization, which turns every new BMW into a car that is very much the user’s own.”
Timing: BMW says these technologies will be become available at the end of 2025.
- Honda: 0 Saloon and 0 SUV Prototypes
Two Honda 0 Series (pronounced ‘zero’) concepts were displayed—the Saloon and SUV. Both use Honda’s dedicated EV architecture of “Thin, Light, and Wise” and will carry the ‘H’ mark that will be applied on future Honda EV models.
Using Honda’s advanced technology such as steer-by-wire, motion control, posture control and a human-machine interface (HMI) enables simple intuitive operations. Both 0 Series models are targeting a 300-mile all-electric driving range with 15%-80% fast charging in under 15 minutes.
Honda designed and built the Asimo Operating System that will manage the vehicle infotainment and the latest advanced driver-assist systems (ADAS) for the next generation of autonomous driving.
Timing: Pricing was not announced. Both 0 models will be built in Ohio. The SUV will go on sale in early 2026 while the Saloon is scheduled for late 2026.
- Hyundai Mobis: Holographic Windshield Display
It becomes apparent real fast this is not an ordinary head-up display. Operating without a screen, the front window transforms into a transparent screen displaying driving data, navigation and music playlists. From the outside the windshield looks like any piece of front glass while inside, even in bright light, color visuals for the driver and passenger are clear and bright.
Hyundai Mobis worked in-conjunction with the German optical company Zeiss to develop the Holographic Windshield Display.
Timing: A goal of 2027 has been set for launching the holographic display.
• Mobileye
Take the hottest new car on the market, douse with a wild paint job and stuff it full of self-driving tech. That’s a CES trademark. Mobileye Global Inc., a public company with a controlling share of its stock held by Intel, took a Euro-spec VW ID Buzz and turned it into a showcase for the company’s advanced driver assistance technology. Mobileye has worked with Volkswagen and other auto companies on ADAS systems, in this case adding nine high-resolution cameras, three long-range lidar sensors, four parking cameras and six short-range lidars.
• Nvidia
As one headline said bluntly—this is Nividia’s world. We only live in it. In the automotive world that could not be more true. Virtually all modern EVs (and to only a slightly lesser degree, ICE vehicles) and the prototype autonomous vehicles running around rely on the massive computing power of Nvidia chips. The artificial intelligence (AI) that is being deployed more frequently in cars also depends on those same chips.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang delivered an extensive and expansive keynote address that outlined new generations of chips and devices the company is introducing. The next generation of Toyotas will feature in-vehicle computers running Nvidia DriveOS. Nvidia is partnering with Aurora and Continental to further autonomous big rig truck testing.
Finally, Huang also introduced a $3,000 desktop supercomputer so automotive designers and engineers will not have to rely on outsourced computer.
- Sony Honda Mobility: Afeela EV Update
Sony and Honda made a splash at CES 2023 announcing their joint venture and introducing their first new model, the Afeela. Sony Honda Mobility (SHM) says the “Afeela” represents “Feel,” which is at the center of the mobility experience.”
There will be two trim levels—Afeela 1 Origin and Afeela 1 Signature—for the 300-mile range EV sedan.
Timing: Pricing was announced, not including destination charges, starting at $89,900 for the 1 Origin and $102,900 for the 1 Signature.
Reservations, being taken only for California, will begin in “late 2025” for delivery sometime in Spring 2026. SHM is not using a traditional dealer model, but will be selling direct to consumers through Studio and Delivery Hubs.
• Toyota
In another keynote address, Toyota’s Chairman talked not just about cars, but a community the company is building in Japan. Woven City embracing EVs and AVs, but beyond that the entire city is designed to maximize efficiency and minimal environmental impact. By this fall, 360 Toyota staff and family members will become the initial residents. Eventually it hopes to expand to a population of 2,000 and become a test-bed for mobility initiatives.
Toyota Chairman Akio Toyoda also said it is investing $44 million in a Japanese startup that is designing and building rockets. “We are exploring rockets too, because the future of mobility shouldn’t be limited to just earth or just one car company,” Toyoda said, in an apparent jab at Musk’s Tesla and SpaceX companies.
- Zeeker: 001 FR, 009 Grand and Mix EV Concepts
For something completely new and unexpected, the three offerings from Chinese auto manufacturer Zeeker, part of the Geely Group, runs the gambit from an enthusiast sedan to two distinctly different minivans. As part of a larger portfolio, these three give a look of what is on sale in other parts of the world, and possibly a glimpse of someday in America. The cars usee Zeeker in-house designed and built lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries with 10%-80% charging in about 10 minutes.
- 001 FR is what Zeeker calls “a hyper-performing shooting brake (station wagon)” which translates into a 1,247-horsepower screamer hitting 62 miles per hour in 2.02 seconds.
- Zeeker describes the Mix as “A family-friendly SUV with maximized interior space and a unique design.”
- The 009 Grand is called “A four-seater MPV (Multi-Purpose Vehicle) redefined as a tranquil and safe mobile sanctuary.”
So what does this tell us about a completely unknown brand that is part of one of the largest auto manufacturers in the world? They announced intent to enter the U.S. market in 2024, but with the threat of the U.S. raising the tariff on China-made EVs from 25% to 100%, it is now anyone’s guess if that will happen.
Timing: Stay tuned beginning January 20, 2025.
- Zoox
Zoox says its on-demand autonomous ride-hailing vehicle is designed as a mobility service in urban environments. Whether it is called a Robotaxi or Driverless Taxi, Zoox wants to stress “The Future Is For Riders…not drivers,” which it demonstrated to select CES attendees.
Founded in 2014 and acquired by Amazon in 2020, the Zoox company timeline is impressive. It has seating for four, occupant airbags and seatbelts, and wireless phone charging. Mechanically, it has 4-wheel steering for negotiating tight urban spaces, cameras, lidar and radar to guide it through a predefined area using geometric and semantic mapping.
Since June 16, 2023, the Zoox Robotaxi has been operating on a one-mile loop around a neighborhood Las Vegas, and at Amazon’s California headquarters in Foster City.
Beyond Cars
But wait, there is more! It wasn’t all automobile reveals and news; agriculture and construction machines were also shown at CES 2025.
- John Deere
This 188-year-old company, based in Moline, Illinois, is world famous for its green and yellow agriculture tractors and its yellow and black heavy construction trucks. For a look at what John Deere showed in its CES 2025 display, go here.
- Kubota
Kubota introduced a slew of new products from electric tractors, autonomous sprayers, an all-terrain four-wheel multifunctional robot, a robotic pruner, and a hydrogen engine that is intended to replace diesel.
Go here to see what Kubota brought to CES 2025.
Timing: Each machine is on a different production timeline, so go to the above Kubota link for more information on price and availability.
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Story by John Faulkner & Michael Coates. Photos by the manufacturers.
