This Self-Driving BMW Concept Comes With a Flying Drone

The futuristic Rinspeed Etos is one wonderfully weird sports car.

The imagineers at Swiss design specialist Rinspeed have jumped the gun this year, unleashing an incredible new autonomous hybrid sports car called the Etos, built on the foundation of the amazing BMW i8 for the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January. Normally, they reveal the results of their latest hallucinations at their home auto show in Geneva in March.

But the new Etos sports car is so heavily laden with every manner of available gadgetry and technology that the annual tech showcase was a more appropriate venue for this car’s debut. Consider that in addition to having a retractable steering wheel that stows away inside the dashboard for unencumbered reading space for the driver, the car carries a built-in flying drone atop its engine cover.

With the steering wheel folded out of the way, there is a clear view of the car’s pair of 21.5-inch ultra HD widescreen displays on the dashboard. A built-in Harman personal assistant offers help with planning activities, while an octet of exterior HD cameras show every view of the area surrounding the Etos.

The DJI drone can fly along above the car, shooting video of your drive in the Etos and even streaming it online to cultivate envy across your social feeds. The drone’s landing platform is wired with 12,000 LEDs, turning it into a signboard atop the car for showing messages and images while drone videos it.

Like the new Ford GT production car, the Etos concept employs Corning Inc.’s Gorilla Glass in its roof panel and in the drone landing platform for reduced weight and increased durability. 

Naturally, Rinspeed assures us that although the Etos will debut at CES, they’ve reserved a space to display the car in Geneva too.

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