Land Rover has unveiled the Discovery Vision Concept, which is debuting this week at the New York Auto Show.
Land Rover has unveiled the Discovery Vision Concept, which is debuting this week at the New York Auto Show. The concept is more than just a simple Land Rover concept, since it previews a new range of SUVs that will all wear the Discovery badge.
According to Land Rover, starting in 2015, the Discovery badge will be placed on a range of SUVs that “symbolize the essence of the premium, lifestyle-orientated SUV: modern, versatile, practical and desirable, with the unmistakable DNA of Land Rover at its core.” Besides just previewing the styling of the future Discovery family, the Discovery Vision Concept also gives us an early look at some of the technologies that will come from the Jaguar/ Land Rover family in the next few years.
In terms of styling, the Discovery Vision Concept molds many of the styling cues from models like the Range Rover Evoque and Range Rover Sport models with a shape that isn’t too different from the current LR4/ Discovery.
Inside the concept gets a lot more interesting with its Nimbus and Navy premium leather, open pore grey wood veneer and polished and brushed aluminum finishes. The panoramic roof also keeps things bright and there is room for seven passengers with a 2+3+2 layout across three rows. There’s lots of cool technology like the steering wheel, which incorporates two touchscreens to operate the infotainment system and turn signals and headlight functions that are operated with gesture control rather than the traditional stalks in today’s cars. The instrument panel also has a high-definition screen with a 3-million-pixel resolution.
Lastly a SkyLight cabin light is incorporated into the structural cross-beam that spans the panoramic roof. Providing an even, warm spread of light, it can be activated and brightened or dimmed with a gesture. Gentle orange lighting in the doors and floors further enhances the ambience of the interior.
The Discovery Vision Concept also features laser headlights, which are far brighter than today’s headlights and a new smart glass function can display display imagery, like a computer screen on all the windows, the panoramic roof and the windshield. The system can display relevant navigation information, passing landmarks and can even help with parking by projecting camera feeds onto the driver’s view out of the smart-glass window, broadening the field of vision.
It gets even crazier as the list of new features continues. The concept also features a Remote Control Drive system that enables the driver to drive the car at very low speed while not actually seated inside it; Laser Terrain Scanning uses lasers to scan the road ahead and map the terrain; and the Transparent Hood (Bonnet) technology uses cameras under the grille to send video of the terrain being traversed, projecting it to the Head-Up Display in the windscreen.
Related: Land Rover Discovery Vision Concept Features Transparent Hood Technology
It’s not known when these technologies will be available, but the first Discovery SUV is expected to be the replacement for the current LR2/ Freelander, which is expected to debut before the end of the year.
Source: Land Rover
