LIVING ROOM ON WHEELS
Renault R-Space Lab
Image © RENAULT
Renault’s R-Space Lab concept serves as a refined manifesto for the future of automotive living. Born from the Futurama innovation laboratory, this 4.5-metre, one-box demonstrator embodies the French marque’s enduring philosophy of “voitures à vivre”, which translates to cars designed as extensions of daily life.
The exterior presents flowing, elegant lines that belie its generous proportions. Just 1.5 metres tall, the true revolution unfolds upon entry. A vast, curved panorama screen sweeps across the entire dashboard, delivering crisp instrumentation, advanced driver assistance data, and multimedia in high-definition clarity. Steer-by-wire technology and a compact wheel enhance visibility and tactile feedback, while the interface responds with smartphone-like intuition.
The cabin defines modularity with a sense of sophistication. Airbags integrated into the passenger seat free up the dashboard for a versatile multifunction glovebox that unfolds into a leg rest or a tablet ledge. The front passenger seat glides rearward, fostering conversation or easier interaction with children. Three identical, slightly reclined rear seats, paired with a flat floor, allow easy reconfiguration, from family lounge to bicycle-carrying mode, or even pet-friendly cargo space. Rear doors opening to 90 degrees further ease access.
Light floods the interior through an expansive glazed roof, slim pillars, and frameless doors, creating an airy, lounge-like ambience. Onboard AI acts as a thoughtful companion, offering contextual safety coaching or personalised guidance. A tactile alcohol detector quietly promotes responsible driving.
Though not destined for production in this exact form, the R-Space Lab offers a compelling vision of the future, which promises human-centred, adaptable, and quietly luxurious mobility.
CARS THAT KEEP GETTING BETTER
Volvo’s Software Revolution:
Image © VOLVO
In an industry racing toward software-defined mobility, Volvo Cars has quietly claimed pole position among the legacy carmakers. The Swedish premium manufacturer is the only legacy carmaker globally to achieve Level 5 SDV capability according to S&P Global Mobility – the highest possible ranking.
At the heart of this shift lies HuginCore, Volvo’s in-house developed electrical architecture, core computer, and zone controllers. It powers the brand’s new software-defined trio – the EX90, ES90, and EX60 – enabling over-the-air (OTA) software updates that improve safety, performance, range, and user experience throughout a vehicle’s life.
Volvo has begun rolling out its largest OTA software update in history, delivering the new Volvo Car UX to approximately 2.5 million cars across 85 countries. Free of charge for eligible models with Google built in dating back to 2020, the comprehensive upgrade introduces a cleaner, more intuitive central display layout. Common functions – navigation, media, and phone – now sit prominently on the home screen, dramatically reducing taps and clicks. A contextual bar adapts to driving conditions, while plug-in hybrid owners gain one-tap access to pure-electric mode. The refreshed interface also prepares vehicles for future conversational AI with Google Gemini.
Rooted in real-world customer feedback, the update creates a consistent, modern design philosophy across the entire lineup.
An older XC40 now shares the same refined user experience as the flagship EX90. In Volvo’s world, buying a car is no longer a one-time transaction, but the beginning of a continuously improving relationship.
With safety remaining paramount, these software advances reinforce Volvo’s reputation for thoughtful, human-centric innovation.
STEERING INTO A NEW ERA
Mercedes EQS Steer-by-Wire
Image © MERCEDES-BENZ
In the 140th anniversary year of the automobile, Mercedes-Benz reaffirms its pioneering spirit with a quiet revolution inside its flagship electric sedan. Steer-by-wire technology arrives as an option on the new EQS, making Mercedes the first German manufacturer to offer this advanced system in series production. The result is a fundamentally transformed driving experience: precise, intuitive, and almost weightless.
Gone is the traditional mechanical linkage. Instead, sensors and high-performance control units translate driver inputs into electronic commands, delivering a new steering feel that eliminates unwanted vibrations from uneven roads while preserving the characteristic Mercedes composure. Effort is dramatically reduced, allowing effortless low-speed manoeuvring and parking without the need to shuffle hands on the wheel. At higher speeds, the system works in perfect harmony with the 10-degree rear-axle steering, optimising the ratio for enhanced stability and surprising lateral agility. Sportiness and supreme comfort, once uneasy bedfellows, now coexist elegantly.
The cabin benefits equally. A flatter, more compact steering wheel, enabled by the absence of a steering column, opens up the driver’s view to the digital display, eases entry and exit, and creates a noticeably more spacious, lounge-like ambience. This reinforces the EQS’s signature “Welcome home” sensation from the moment you settle in.
Safety remains paramount. A redundant architecture with dual signal paths ensures uninterrupted control, while a newly engineered airbag structure maintains Mercedes’ uncompromising passive safety standards despite the redesigned wheel.
In the new EQS, Mercedes has decoupled steering from mechanical constraints, delivering an effortless connection between driver and machine. After more than a million test kilometres, the future of luxury driving has just become lighter, calmer, and more refined.
Report by WILHELM LOOTS
