There are few things people dread more than going to a car dealership. Sure, you’re excited to poke around and test drive some new vehicles, but it’s never that simple. In most cases, you’ll either be ignored by the sales staff, or harassed until you sign on the dotted line. For this reason, options like Carvana’s car vending machine have popped up to cut out the middleman, and RelayCars takes this concept a step further.
The free virtual reality app from EVOX Images offers users the chance to explore a library of new vehicles without ever leaving their home.
While this might sound like a niche use-case for VR gear, EVOX has announced that its app just hit one million downloads, making it the most popular automotive VR app on the Oculus Samsung Gear VR store and Google Play store for Android.
“Reaching this milestone is a celebratory event for us and also shows that VR is becoming an important component for the future of car shopping,” said David Falstrup, CEO of EVOX Images. “Consumer needs are driving technological advances in every aspect of our lives. We’re showing consumers a new way to research vehicles without ever leaving the comfort of their couch.”
Those who are familiar with virtual gaming understand the advantages of an immersive experience, and the same benefits are made available to car shoppers. Watching a YouTube walkaround is one thing, but being invited into the cockpit to analyze anything and everything, at your leisure, is uniquely convenient. This is made possible by EVOX’s 360-degree imaging tech — which it supplies to more than 20,000 dealer and automotive websites.
Every vehicle make and model that’s been on sale since 2015 is accessible through six different virtual showrooms — trucks, cars, SUVs, exotic cars, and everything in between.
Within the past year, the EVOX VR team has extended technology offerings with the introduction of showrooms, virtual cinema, vehicle configurator capability, VR product clinics, and more. These new virtual shopping features will benefit dealers by building customer engagement and driving store traffic.
RelayRides and other innovative uses for VR will undoubtedly make the technology appealing to a greater number of consumers. It’s only a matter of time before a VR headset is as common as a TV remote.
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.