Audi unveils the new Grandsphere concept car as a 'private jet for the road'

September 7, 2021: -Audi is touting its latest Grandsphere concept car as a “private jet for the road.” While the vehicle cannot fly, the German automaker said it designed the electric vehicle with luxury private travel in mind.

Specifically, the vehicle’s interior is designed to transform into a “first-class lounge” when the car is in self-driving mode, which includes a steering column that stows away for more space for the driver and front passenger.

According to company officials, the concept car represents what the Volkswagen-owned brand believes in achieving as it pivots to electric and autonomous vehicles. Audi is planning to exclusively offer EVs by 2033 after its new cars with a gas-powered engine are introduced in 2026.

“It is the future of Audi,” Hildegard Wortmann, the sales and marketing head of Audi, said on Thursday in the online unveiling of the car. “We are at the dawn of a new era of mobility.”

To be clear, no vehicle being sold today is self-driving. The driver-assist systems still require drivers to pay attention, but the Audi concept is designed to operate without driver supervision.

The Grandsphere is the second of three like-concept vehicles. The first, called Skysphere, was unveiled in the previous month as a performance roadster that blended Batmobile-like technologies with an aggressive design and luxury amenities.

While both the cars share some exterior design characteristics, the Grandsphere is lesser sinister-looking and features a far cleaner and more luxurious interior, which was a primary focus for Audi.

“It’s no longer just about driving,” Henrik Wenders, head of Audi, said in the car’s unveiling. “Thanks to digitalization, it’s about experiences personal, immersive and entirely human-centric.”

Potentially the most surprising thing about the vehicle is that there are no apparent screens in the cabin while in self-driving mode. Instead, everything that would be communicated through an infotainment system and more, which include movies, are projected onto the wooden instrument panel under the windshield of the vehicle.

While some vehicle’s debut included computer-generated images, an Audi spokesman said the car is real. It will be on display at the Munich Motor Show in the coming week.

According to Audi, the term “sphere” in the names of the concept cars is meant to symbolize the interior space for drivers and passengers of the vehicles. The third concept, called the Urbansphere, is unveiled in the first half of 2022.