- The Meta Turismo concept was exhibited at Milan Design week
- Designers revealed more details about its sporty intentions
- Virtual shifts are ‘just the beginning’ as Kia looks to make electric vehicles more fun
The creatives behind Kia’s latest Meta Turismo concept say they want to “bring back a sense of joy and a sense of theater” to the electric vehicle market, as the company looks to the next stage of its design language.
Briefly revealed at an 80th anniversary celebration in Yongin, Korea last year, the Vision Meta Turismo provides a glimpse of what we can expect from future Kia models, particularly the four-door sedan, of which there has been a gaping hole in the Kia lineup since the departure of the Kia Stinger.
“The Vision Meta Turismo is truly a car designed for a generation that didn’t grow up with posters on the walls. Instead, they probably experienced their dream car in virtual realms,” explains Oliver Samson, head of design at Kia Europe.
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As a result, the long and sleek Vision Meta Turismo borrows elements from the gaming world and racing simulators inside.
The front passenger, for example, enjoys a living room-like experience that is “distraction-free” and can rotate 180 degrees when the vehicle is stationary.
In contrast, the driver takes a much more focused, cockpit-like position, with an augmented reality screen that tracks the driver’s eyes so they are always in the correct field of vision.
There’s also a new steering wheel shape that Kia says serves “as a central interface through which users engage in three distinct digital experience modes.” These include Speeder, Dreamer and Gamer.
The former places the car in a focused driving mode, where it’s possible for the driver to enjoy the brand’s virtual gear changes and any future driving technology that may arise, while Dreamer sees virtual layers added to the vehicle’s cockpit so occupants can interact with their infotainment system via an augmented reality heads-up display or AR glasses for passengers.
Finally, Gamer is a mode reserved for vehicle parking and transforms the AR screen and steering wheel into a “Sim race” location, while an exterior projector creates a “group gaming hub,” according to its designers.
Analysis: restoring pleasure to electric vehicles
“Everyone knows electric vehicles can be fast as hell, but we need to bring back a sense of joy, something exciting and something different in the way we interact with them,” says John Buckingham, head of future exterior at Kia.
Pointing to the joystick-shaped shifter inside the Vision Meta Turismo concept, Buckingham says technology, such as Hyundai Motor Group’s Virtual Shift, is “just the beginning” of a long list of innovative and engaging driving features we can expect to see on its future electric vehicles.
“Vision Meta Turismo explores the differences in character between the sportiness of a Kia and that of Hyundai’s N models. That has to be separated and we can’t do what they do. Rather than racing, we focus on the personal pleasure of driving,” he adds, suggesting that Kia could offer electric Grand Tourers to Hyundai’s hot hatchbacks.
As a result, the concept vehicle features a launch control button, as well as a GT Boost feature, which unleashes full power to provide an “instant burst of acceleration.” Yet it remains a quiet, comfortable, lounge-like experience for logging long highway miles.
While it’s just a concept for now, Kia recently updated its EV lineup with GT-badged variants that offer virtual gear shifting borrowed from Hyundai and a more focused driving experience. That’s not quite the total power of a Hyundai N product, but it serves to increase driver engagement.
The Vision Meta Turismo offers a glimpse of how Kia can further enhance this feeling in the future and gives us our best idea yet of what shape an all-electric sports sedan from the Korean brand could take.
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