- The Meta Tourism concept was exhibited at Milan Design Week
- The designers revealed more details about their sporting intentions.
- Virtual gear changes are “just the beginning” as Kia looks to make electric vehicles more fun
The creatives behind Kia’s latest Meta Turismo concept say they want to “return a sense of joy and theatre” to the electric vehicle market, as the company looks towards the next stage of its design language.
Briefly unveiled at the 80th anniversary celebration in Yongin, Korea, last year, the Vision Meta Turismo offers a glimpse of what we can expect from Kia’s future models, particularly the four-door saloon, of which there has been a big gap in Kia’s range since the Kia Stinger came out.
“The Vision Meta Turismo is really a car designed for a generation that has not grown up with posters on their walls. Instead, they have probably experienced their dream car in virtual realms,” explains Oliver Samson, head of design at Kia Europe.
Article continues below.
As a result, the long and elegant Vision Meta Turismo borrows elements from the world of video games and racing simulators within it.
The front passenger, for example, enjoys a lounge-like experience, “free of distractions” and can turn 180 degrees when the vehicle is stationary.
In stark contrast, the driver adopts a much more concentrated, cockpit-like position, with an Augmented Reality display that follows the driver’s eyes so that they are always in the correct field of vision.
There’s also a new steering wheel shape that Kia says serves as a “central interface through which users interact with three distinct modes of digital experience.” These are part of Speeder, Dreamer and Gamer.
The former places the car in a focused driving mode, where the driver is likely to enjoy the brand’s virtual gear changes and any future driving technology that may emerge, while Dreamer sees virtual layers added to the vehicle’s cabin so that occupants can interact with its infotainment system through an augmented reality head-up display or AR glasses for passengers.
Finally, Gamer is a mode reserved for when the vehicle is parked and transforms the AR screen and steering wheel into a place for ‘Sim racing’, while an exterior projector creates a “group gaming center”, according to its designers.
Analysis: Bring the fun back to electric vehicles
“Everyone knows that electric vehicles can be incredibly fast, but we need to give them a sense of joy, something exciting and something different in the way we interact with them,” explains John Buckingham, director of future exterior at Kia.
Highlighting the joystick shifter within the Vision Meta Turismo concept, Buckingham says that technology, such as Hyundai Motor Group’s virtual gearshift, is “just the beginning” of a long list of innovative and engaging driving features we can expect to see in its future electric vehicles.
“Vision Meta Turismo explores the differences in character between the sportiness of a Kia and Hyundai’s N models. That has to be separated and we cannot do what they do. More than racing, what we are looking for is the personal enjoyment of driving,” he adds, suggesting that Kia could offer electric Grand Tourers to Hyundai’s hot hatches.
As a result, the concept vehicle features a launch control button as well as GT Boost functionality, which unleashes all the power to deliver an “instant surge of acceleration.” However, it is still a quiet, comfortable and relaxing experience for spending long miles on the road.
While this is just a concept for now, Kia has recently been updating its electric vehicle range with GT-badged variants that offer virtual gear changes borrowed from Hyundai and a more focused driving experience. It’s not as bold as a Hyundai N product, but it serves to increase driver engagement.
The Vision Meta Turismo offers a glimpse of the ways in which Kia can further increase this sensation in the future and gives us our best idea yet of what form an all-electric sports saloon from the Korean brand could take.
Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to receive news, reviews and opinions from our experts in your feeds. Be sure to click the Follow button!
And of course, you can also follow TechRadar on YouTube and tiktok for news, reviews, unboxings in video form and receive regular updates from us on WhatsApp also.
