Swiss coachbuilder Rinspeed will travel to the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Nevada, to introduce a new concept called Σtos.

Based on the BMW i8, the Σtos is a futuristic coupe that highlights the brand’s vision for the future of mobility. The bulk of the modifications are found in the cabin, where Rinspeed has installed a completely new dashboard designed to let the passengers relax and enjoy the ride while the Σtos drives itself. The steering wheel retracts into the dashboard when it’s not being used and frees up space for a pair of 21-inch high-definition screens that can be individually adjusted.

The Harman-designed infotainment system lets the passengers access their agenda, watch movies, make video calls, or get information about their destination. It can be controlled via voice commands, gestures, touch inputs, or a controller knob. The screens also display footage provided by the eight high-definition cameras installed to monitor the Σtos and its surroundings, a feature that eliminates the need for door mirrors.

Interestingly, the coupe boasts a gaze-tracking system that keeps track of the driver’s eye movements to monitor what he or she has and hasn’t seen. The infotainment system instantly processes this information and uses it to generate personalized warnings about potential obstacles in the road ahead.

Running late? The Σtos has you covered thanks to an on-board drone designed to land on a purpose-built Gorilla Glass pad mounted on the back of the car. Rinspeed points out the drone can run basic errands such as picking up flowers for the driver’s significant other; alternatively, it can shoot pictures of the coupe and instantly post them on social media.

Rinspeed has made a long list of visual modifications to the i8. The Σtos ditches the i8′s kidney grille in favor of a one-piece unit, and it gains new rocker extensions, redesigned quarter panels, and a longer rear end. Mechanically, the Σtos is standard i8 fare, meaning it uses a gasoline-electric plug-in hybrid drivetrain made up of a turbocharged 1.5-liter three-cylinder engine stuffed behind the passenger compartment and an electric motor installed on the front axle.

German media outlets are reporting that Audi will show a new concept at next month’s Detroit Motor Show.

Tentatively called h-tron quattro, the show car will essentially be a hydrogen-powered version of the e-tron quattro concept (pictured) that was presented to the public last September at the Frankfurt Motor Show. It will stretch roughly 192 inches long, 75 inches wide, and only 60 inches tall, and it will be all but identical to the electric model when viewed from the outside.

Official technical details aren’t available yet, but German magazine Auto Bild believes the drivetrain will be entirely new. It will be made up of lightweight tanks to store hydrogen, a fuel cell to convert the hydrogen into electricity, a battery pack, and an electric motor mounted over each axle. The SUV will boast all-wheel drive, and it might be capable of driving on electricity alone for short distances.

If the report is accurate, more details about the Audi h-tron quattro will be available in the coming weeks. The e-tron is expected to spawn Audi’s first regular-production electric crossover in 2018, but we’ll have to wait until the start of the Detroit show to tell whether the yet-unnamed model will be available with a hydrogen drivetrain.

Photos by Ronan Glon.

California has been the epicenter of the autonomous vehicle movement, but the state’s regulators proposed new rules on Wednesday that would completely ban driverless vehicles.

Under California’s proposed rules, autonomous vehicles would be required to have a steering wheel and pedals in order to be licensed to drive on the state’s roads. Self-driving cars would also need a human behind the wheel with an “autonomous vehicle operator certificate” in case of a mechanical malfunction.

If enacted, the rules would kill the hopes of a commercially available driverless car in the state of California. That’s means there won’t be any robotic taxis ferrying people around the Golden State anytime soon.

“Given the potential risks associated with deployment of such a new technology, [the] DMV believes that manufacturers need to obtain more experience in testing driverless vehicles on public roads prior to making this technology available to the general public,” the California DMV said, according to Automotive News.

The terms of the proposal also outline safety standards that would require certification from a third-party auditor. Moreover, any manufacturers operating an autonomous vehicle in the state would be required to submit safety and usage reports on a regular basis.

Several automakers currently hold a license to test autonomous vehicles, including Honda, Mercedes-Benz and, most recently, Ford.

Bentley is reportedly close to giving the EXP 10 Speed 6 a green light for production.

The company recently acknowledged an internal debate over which model will follow the Bentayga. Executives reportedly had pared the list down to just two possibilities, either a smaller SUV or the Speed 6.

Kevin Rose, Bentley’s board member responsible for sales and marketing, now hints that the Speed 6 is the preferred model. The company views the coupe as a perfect fit for a market niche that has enough customer interest.

“It ticks all our boxes,” Rose told Top Gear.

If the project gets the go-ahead, it will be built upon VW Group’s latest MSB platform. The architecture is also expected to be shared with the next-generation Porsche Panamera and all-new replacements for the current Continental GT, GTC and Flying Spur.

“[The MSB architecture] can be different in the front and the rear and the middle,” Rose said. “So you can create a sedan with sedan feel or a sports car with a sports-car feel. There’s lots of flexibility in the height too.”

Presumably sold under a much different name, the production EXP 10 is believed to be powered by a V8 engine with around 600 horsepower. The basic coupe could arrive as early as 2019, followed by a convertible variant entering the next decade.

The company will now be working to explore production feasibility and financing as it builds the business case and awaits a decision from the board.

Live images by Ronan Glon.

Mazda was the most fuel efficient automaker in the US for the 2015 model year, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

The Japanese company’s adjusted fuel economy averaged 30.1 mpg, with CO2 output of 295 grams per mile. The achievement appears to represent the first time a major automaker has surpassed the 30-mpg benchmark.

The results for 2015 are preliminary, though Mazda also leads the final numbers for the 2014 model year with a 29.4-mpg average. Subaru is second on the list with 27.6 mpg, followed closely by Hyundai, Honda and Nissan.

Perhaps not shockingly, the Big Three domestic automakers have held the bottom positions in 2013, 2014 and 2015. Fiat Chrysler Automobiles has remained at the bottom of the pack, with an average adjusted mpg rating of just 20.8 for 2014.

“BMW accomplished the biggest improvement in adjusted CO2 emissions performance from MY 2013 to MY 2014, followed by Mercedes and Mazda,” the EPA noted in its report (PDF). “BMW also had the biggest fuel economy improvement from MY 2013 to MY 2014, followed by Mazda.”

The agency cautioned that production time-frames for certain model years can throw off the averages. As an example, Hyundai and Kia both had ‘very short’ production windows for high-efficiency models from the 2014 model year, dropping their averages by 1.5-1.6 percent.

“Excluding these two manufacturers, fleetwide fuel economy would have increased by 0.3 mpg and fleetwide CO2 emissions would have decreased by 4 g/mi in MY 2014, rather than being flat,” the report added.

The EPA believes most manufacturers will post improvements for the 2015 model year, however it is unclear if the drop in gasoline prices — and an associated boom in SUV sales — will have a negative impact on overall efficiency through 2016.

Image by Byron Hurd.