The MINI brand isn’t even 100 years old, but parent BMW is already planning its second century. The MINI Vision Next 100 is part of a series of concepts that also includes the BMW Vision Next 100 and Rolls-Royce Vision Next 100, debuting during BMW’s centennial year.
Like the BMW and Rolls concepts, the MINI Vision Next 100 is built around the assumption that autonomous cars will become commonplace in the next few decades. It seeks to adapt MINI’s signature emphasis on personalization to a future where self-driving cars and car-sharing or ride-sharing services combine to make actually owning a car unnecessary.
The MINI Vision Next 100 allows its temporary occupants to digitally customize the vehicle. The exterior skin can change colors on command, and the infotainment system adapts its displays to individual preferences. Like current MINIs, the Vision Next 100 has a giant central dial on its dashboard. Now christened the “Cooperizer,” it allows occupants to change driving modes and reconfigure the interior, including choosing setups shared by other users.
Read more: 2016 MINI Cooper Clubman S first drive
This futuristic MINI allows people to choose between being passengers and driving themselves. The idea is that drivers can take control on their favorite twisty roads, and then delegate more tedious tasks like sitting in traffic or parking to the car’s computer brain. MINI reasons that the prevalence of self-driving cars will make some of today’s crash protection unnecessary. That’s why the Vision Next 100 is appreciably smaller than a current MINI Cooper, which is a nice change of pace. The concept has a zero-emission powertrain of unspecified design.
MINI used an unusual array of materials for the interior, including recycled aluminum and plastic, as well as brass, basalt, and cellulose. They were chosen for reasons of sustainability and durability. A future automotive sharing economy means the average car will be used more like a taxi, with the greater wear and tear that entails. MINI says it chose trim materials based on their low environmental impact, as well as their ability to stand up to that abuse.
The Vision Next 100 also has the ability to sift through users’ social media accounts and plan events, something MINI calls “experience sharing.” So the MINI of the future could be a self-driving smartphone on wheels, something very far from the simple, economical original Mini that first appeared back in 1959.
BYD has launched the third-generation Qin Plus DM-i in China, and the first thing that caught my eye is its price. According to CarNewsChina, the plug-in hybrid sedan starts at 79,900 yuan, which is about $11,980. That’s an incredibly low price for a brand-new car, especially by US standards.
What’s even more impressive is the range. The Qin Plus DM-i can drive up to 137 miles on electricity alone, which should cover most people’s daily commutes without using a drop of gas. Once the battery runs out, the 1.5-liter engine takes over. Thanks to its 17-gallon tank and roughly 91 mpg with a drained battery, the combined range reaches up to 1,423 miles.
Apple won the PC market’s worst quarter, but that’s not the entire story. It won the race by stumbling less than everyone else.
PC makers shipped just 57 million computers worldwide in Q3, which might look good, but it’s a 21% year-over-year plunge (via Counterpoint Research). And despite Apple’s Mac shipments falling by 11%, to 5.6 million, its market share rose from 8.7% to 9.8%. How did that happen?
Update (October 22 23:54 PT): In response to our query, GM clarified that offline recording support is already available on eligible vehicles. Like Tesla's Sentry Mode, it requires owners to connect a USB drive to save incident recordings, which can be viewed on the vehicle's infotainment screen. The upcoming Connected Cameras feature will build on this by giving owners remote access to these recordings via the revamped OnStar app, allowing them to check footage without walking out to their car.
General Motors has announced plans to add a new Connected Cameras feature to its OnStar service starting next year, giving drivers a way to monitor parked vehicles remotely and capture footage of certain incidents.