Audi has issued an official confirmation of its plans to release a large-sized Aicon SUV in the near future. The conceptual vehicle debuted at last year’s Frankfurt International Motor Show in Germany.
Once released, the vehicle is going to be Audi’s largest SUV in the lineup, even longer (5,444 mm / 17.85 ft) than the flagship A8 sedan (5,265 mm / 17.27 ft). It is also going to have a wheelbase spanning 3,470 mm / 11.4 ft.
The most compelling feature of the new vehicle is going to be its compliance with the Level 5 autonomous driving system. This means the car won’t have any steering controls altogether. An on-board computer will be responsible for the steering and the safety of the passengers, who can spend the time thus freed doing anything they like.
Reports claim that the vehicle won’t have the traditional kind of automotive lighting, either. Instead, it is going to come equipped with multiple sensor arrays for real-time analysis of the environment and traffic obstacles. This latter point has stirred some controversy: how is Aicon going to signal to other vehicles and the pedestrians that it is approaching when it is dark outside? This and many other questions lead us to believe that the car will still have some lights, just not the standard set.
The car also will ship with a mini-drone that will follow the passengers to their destinations (shop, home etc.) while providing ground illumination at night.
On the drivetrain side, the new Audi Aicon will get four engines together capable of 355 hp (265 kW) and 550 Nm (405 lb·ft) of torque.
All of the above may sound ambitious enough, but Audi is actually considering the Aicon as merely the first step towards even greater self-driving car tech. The company expects to build a whole range of autonomous models until 2021.
Photo: autoexpress.co.uk