VW Thinks Giant Toasters Are The Future Of Self-Driving Vehicles

Driverless technology is advancing at a staggering pace and now Volkswagen is submitting its own ideas as to how the auto world will likely look in the future. During the Geneva Auto Show, the company unveiled Sedric (SElf-DRiving Car), which is supposed to represent what true autonomous driving should look like. While it does seem to adhere to Level 5 driverless standards, passengers might have some trouble getting past the fact that it looks like a giant toaster.

Based on what VW is saying about Sedric, it doesn’t seem like they mind the toaster look at all. In fact, the company actually called it a “comfortable lounge on wheels” during the presentation, CNET reports. It certainly appears much like how the inside of a comfortable limo would look like, complete with compartments for putting baggage in.

The interior is made up of two stretched seats facing each other while two foldable seats are at the rear. Environmentalists will also love the fact that Sedric is powered entirely by electricity, so it also caters to proponents of sustainable driving. It also speaks of VW’s efforts to finally get out of the shadow cast by the recent diesel scandal.

As for the self-driving aspect itself, the vehicles comes with no steering wheel, no pedals to break or accelerate with, and can be summoned by pushing a button. Putting all of these details together it starts looking like Sedric might cost more than a pretty penny if it ever comes to the market.

On that note, Sedric is no more than a concept vehicle at the moment, The Verge reports. It’s the first set of wheels ever to be built from scratch with the specific purpose of being fully autonomous, which makes it incredibly promising. Even so, it would seem that VW’s purpose for the vehicle, at least for now, is to highlight just how significant driverless technology is for the auto industry.