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Are you a busy businessperson, who needs to utilise their time travelling too and from meetings and airports to the max? Do you also need to bring three of your friends, and a driver, who will all no doubt have a small army of i-devices and touchscreens about their persons? Yes? Then Peugeot has just the solution for you. A van...
Wait, wait. It's a posh can. It's the Traveller i-Lab, a highly modified version of the new Peuegot nine-seat van-based minibus. Debuting at the upcoming Geneva Motor Show, it's based on the EMP2 platform (also found under the 308 and 308 SW) and comes with safety kit such as a traffic sign recognition camera and active cruise control with city braking.
Oh, and it's got a Samsung telly in the back. Well, sort of. Between the luxuriously upholstered rear seats (four of them, mounted facing one another) there sits a massive 32-inch Samsung-designed touchscreen, mounted on an adjustable arch. That's connected to a Samsung virtual reality headset, so that if you, say, book a hotel from the tablet as you're being driven along, you can then pop the headset on for a virtual tour of the room.
The entire in-car system can also be hooked up to your smartphone so that, if your fight schedule changes, the change will also be automatically forward to the seven-inch screen in the front of the Traveller, so that the driver knows at the same time as you do. Need to keep that smartphone topped up on the move? No problem - there are two inductive wireless charging pads built into the car.
You prefer to switch off and listen to music as you travel? Also no problem, there's a FOCAL stereo built in to the cabin, with woofers, mediums and a subwoofer, carefully positioned in the vehicle. That should get your ears bleeding between meetings. The 7-inch touch and capacitive screen acts as an interface with VisioPark. This equipment recreates a 180° image in overhead view of the environment behind the vehicle. When an obstacle is close by, VisioPark autonomously switches to zoom mode for even more precise manoeuvres.
It can also nag the driver. In keeping with the Peugeot Connect Fleet Management service, an application for professionals is displayed via Mirror Screen on the Peugeot Traveller i-Lab's touch-screen. It collects the location and technical information (fuel consumption, remaining fuel range, average speed) in real time and informs the driver and fleet management in order to plan and prepare future maintenance operations. Fuel consumption is optimised through personalised eco-driving tips.
"With the Peugeot Traveller i-Lab, the brand confirms its goal of applying its dynamic strategy to all segments. The Peugeot Traveller i-Lab's high level of safety, service and hyper-connectivity meet the requirements of business customers that want a streamline and high-quality experience" said Jérôme Micheron, Peugeot Strategy Director.