Rinspeed XchangE concept previews cabin of self-driving cars

Ever wondered what you'll be doing in your car once cars become driverless? We'd probably just sit in the back seat and read the financial section of the paper (on some kind of transparent tablet computer, of course) to see how our Tesla shares are doing and make small talk about the weather with our imaginary chauffeur named James in a faux British accent, asking him to pass the Grey Poupon from time to time. But unlike us, coachbuilder Rinspeed is actually taking the yet-to-materialize issue seriously, and at the upcoming Geneva Auto Show it will debut its XchangE concept. The concept will preview the cabin of an autonomous electric touring sedan, with a rearrangeable layout that provides great flexibility to its occupants.

"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" said Rinspeed boss Frank M. Rinderknecht.

Design consultancy and coachbuilder Rinspeed has built a reputation for developing answers to questions that have been asked, as well as questions that no one has even thought of asking. The upcoming XchangE concept falls into the former category not only because autonomous cars seem to be just around the corner, with a number of automakers such as Nissan and Volvo already fielding sophisticated prototypes in real and controlled environments, but also because the issue of an altered passenger environment in driverless cars has not been addressed yet.

Rinspeed
Rinspeed imagines a control hub that will be able to slide away to the center when the car is not being driven manually.

The XchangE concept that Rinspeed will debut in Geneva won't be able to drive itself when it premieres at the auto show in a couple months, and it is primarily a design exercise. Rinspeed says that we can expect to see all-new seats reminiscent of business-class seats found in airliners, with even greater functionality. The dash will also receive substantial changes to reflect the reality of our new self-driving overlords (whom we'll tentatively welcome for now), and will be able to fold away or slide from side to side. Rinspeed predicts that autonomous driving by car will become even more popular than actual driving is today, given the first-class accommodations that'll be available in cars.

And we have to admit that they've struck on something important. Given the freedom to do what you want on long trips in your car, travel by autonomous car with a first-class interior will seem like luxury compared to the ever-growing indignities of passenger air travel.

We'll bring you first hand reports from the future -- the Geneva Motor Show that is --- which is just a little over two months away.

By Jay Ramey