James Bond. Your SUV is finally here. Land Rover Discovery Vision Concept is one impressive machine, and it ushers in the new age of Discovery range of vehicles. It has the overall shape that reminds of the current Land Rover LR4 and the older Discovery models from the 1990s and early 2000s.
The lower foglamps are capable of emitting infrared and colored lasers, which help with Terrain Scanning and Laser Referencing. Exterior mirrors are actually slim cameras that provide a video feed to the driver for improved visibility. The suicide style doors and the one-piece tailgate are opened by gesture detection, thus eliminating the need for door handles. The classic stepped roof and asymmetrical tailgate design element are still there in this concept. This bad boy rolls on bespoke and show-ready 23-inch split-five-spoke Aero Viper alloy wheels.
The large styled panoramic roof lets the outdoors in. Land Rover says that Discovery Vision can seat up to seven adults in comfort, with each seat getting plenty of headroom and legroom. Each passenger also has access to storage, infotainment, and accessories. This thing is so packed with latest technology that even the steering wheel has two OLED touch screens for driver to control the goodies. Turn signals and headlights are also operated via gesture recognition. The center console display has three million pixels for a truly high-definition experience.
There is mood lighting in the roof beam, door, and floor panel. It can be brightened or dimmed with gestures. There are mind-bogling seating configuration options. Each seat is able to move fore and aft independently, the second and third rows can also be folded flat for cargo loading or to serve as a table surface.
Features:
- Laser Headlights – laser-activated phosphor projection lights provide up to 984 feet of white light beam, which closely mimics daylight. Intelligent headlight technology is able to adjust the beam as to not blind oncoming traffic and provide excellent visibility.
- Smart Glass – this feature take the heads-up-display concept to the next level with the full windshield, side windows, and roof serving as projection screens to allow for augmented reality experience. Each window can also be made opaque or completely blacked out for privacy.
- Remote Control Drive – yes, the Discovery Vision Concept can be driven remotely at very low speed. A removable secondary dial in the center console can do the job. Can you imagine the possibilities? Think of negotiating a marly off-road section by controlling your Land Rover from outside. This can also be handy while hitching a trailer. James Bond would be very happy.
- Invisible Hood – cameras below the grille feed the imagery to the Smart Glass windshield to show what is directly in front and underneath the vehicle, thus making the hood appear transparent. It also shows the direction of the front wheels.
- Wade Aide – uses lasers to determined the depth of the water ahead and tells the driver whether the fording is safe.
It’s difficult to believe or understand the Invisible Hood (aka. Transparent Bonnet), so here is a video from Land Rover of this feature in action.
The Land Rover Discovery Vision Concept is truly a leap into the future. Provided that all the features work as advertised, these technologies put the new Discovery nameplate ahead of the game.
One more question. When can we try it?
Stay tuned for TFLcar video coverage of this Concept and many other debuts from the 2014 New York Auto Show. In the meantime, here is a spy video TFLcar caught of the smaller 2016 Land Rover Discovery Sport.
And here the Land Rover LR4 going up against the Jeep Grand Cherokee off-road.
