Aston Martin Jumps on the Autonomous Bandwagon With Sleek Concept

Lagonda, a subsidiary of British boutique automaker Aston Martin, just revealed a sumptuous new autonomous concept car at the Geneva motor show, one that presages what this brand’s future vehicles will look like.

Aiming to reinvent the luxury segment, Lagonda’s Vision Concept is all about maximizing passenger comfort. Smaller than traditional top-tier sedans, this vehicle will nonetheless seat four adult passengers in total comfort, being designed to accommodate riders that are two meters tall. The lack of a traditional powertrain – internal-combustion engine, transmission, axles – enables this capaciousness.

The Vision Concept features solid-state batteries that are mounted in the floor, providing a real-world driving range of 400 miles. Making it easy to keep those packs loaded with electrons, wireless changing is supported.

For maximum convenience, this vehicle features level-four autonomy, meaning it can drive itself in all normal situations, though it still has a steering wheel and pedals. Speaking of the tiller, it can be retracted entirely when not required, or even be moved from one side of the cabin to the other as dictated by where you’re traveling.

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More interior space is gained by those low-mounted batteries. They’re an integral part of the overall structure, which helps allow massive body apertures for easy ingress and egress. Further improving access to the cabin, the roof lifts above the rear doors, allowing passengers to simply stand up to get in or out.

As for the cabin, it’s a pretty opulent place, featuring an unexpected mélange of materials. Things like carbon fiber, ceramics, cashmere, silk and hand-woven wool are employed to great effect. Providing an uncluttered floor, the front seats are supported on cantilevered arms rather than traditional tracks.

Lagonda is gunning to be the world’s first zero emissions luxury brand and their Vision Concept is a near-future design study that previews the styling that could be coming to production models, even as soon as the year 2021.

With an arcing roofline, massive doors and a cute vestigial trunk, this vehicle’s overall look is distinctive and luxurious without being gaudy.

In addition to this full-size concept, Lagonda also unveiled a pair of 40-percent scale models, a coupe concept and an SUV design study. They too show how Lagonda styling could be adapted to different vehicle types.

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