GENEVA MOTOR SHOW: Rinspeed XchangE

No Geneva motor show would be complete without an offering from homegrown design and customising studio Rinspeed, which in the past has entertained us with all manner of kooky creations.

In recent times, the Swiss purveyor’s concepts have been more sensible and functional in their orientation, and so it is with the Tesla Model S-based XchangE, which is an embodiment of Rinspeed’s vision of the future of (autonomous) driving.

Unlike existing takes on the self-driving car, such as the Renault NEXT TWO, the XchangE literally puts the driver at ease.

Company founder Frank M Rinderknecht explains: “So far hardly anyone has taken this to its logical conclusion from the perspective of the driver. After all, traveling in a driverless car will no longer require me to stare at the road, but will let me spend my time in a more meaningful way.”

Consequently, the XchangE features a mould-breaking cabin that can be configured in a number of ways to enable the now-unencumbered ‘driver’ to work, relax or be entertained as if they were flying business class in a commercial airline.

One of the car’s USPs is that the seats can be swivelled, tilted and adjusted in a multitude of ways, while the futuristic TRW steering wheel can simply be ‘parked’ in the middle of the instrument panel.

Hooked up to steer-by-wire tech, the steering wheel’s novelties include hands-on recognition, drive-mode-manager display in the rim and transparent multifunction keys with ambiance lighting.

Meanwhile, the autonomous vehicle’s operating and display concept was supplied by Harman and uses its next-generation scalable infotainment platform, which allegedly provides comprehensive protection against hacker attacks (ostensibly to prevent some Lex Luthor type from remotely steering your car off a cliff).

The XchangE has no less than four display screens to enable access to the navigation, entertainment, assistance and other functions. The most notable screen is 1.2m long one that runs along the dashboard, followed closely by the 81cm monitor in the back, enabling the car to be transformed into a “UHD movie theatre on wheels”.

Other surprise-and-delight features include a revolutionary Plexiglas roof that features ‘Radiant’ surface coating and shimmers in all colors of the rainbow. It’s complemented by 358 individually controlled LEDs in the ‘EndLighten’ headliner and another 98 in the instrument panel to “create an individual feel-good atmosphere”.

The XchangE is all well and good but, just quietly, we prefer the weirdburger stuff Rinspeed used to roll out before it developed a sensible streak.

Read the latest news and reviews on your mobile, iPhone or PDA at carsales' mobile site...

Don't forget to register to comment on this article.