In advance of the Detroit Auto Show, known for concept cars, Chrysler revealed its new concept car at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this week. The car, named the Fiat Chrysler Portal, comes fit with a focus on millennials with families.
Chrysler is calling it the “minivan for millennials.” It was designed by that same demographic and comes with a slew of innovative features, which the company said is the result of two decades of research. Those features range from Wi-Fi capabilities, to syncing mobile devices, to plug-in ports for those devices, to LED interior colored lighting, to facial recognition deliberately for customized lighting while driving the vehicle, to seats that move around for more storage capacity. The ceiling has a display that can be used for making a drive-through order or even securely paying for that order digitally and collectively.
All that said, its most clever options, arguably, are focused on music and cameras.
The Portal is a portal in and of itself, with the ability to share songs, videos and playlists within the car and also allow each rider to listen to their own music — sans headphones — should they feel so inclined with the driver receiving special amplified sounds — other cars, an ambulance — coming from outside the car.
Possibly the most millennial-centric features, however, are the built-in cameras for taking selfies from each of the six seats.
As for getting from point A to point B, the car not only has a jet engine, but it’s electric, with Chrysler touting up to 250 miles per charge. Recharging for 20 minutes can allow for a 150-mile trip. And, since self-driving vehicles have created a buzz in the news recently, the Portal has some self-driving capabilities as well. However, the driver does still assume responsibility with the steering wheel and pedals. However, that steering wheel isn’t always there — when not in use, it folds away.
The company said these are the things millennials want in a car. However, this is just a concept car, and Chrysler hasn’t said if there are any concrete plans to actually produce a single unit just yet.