Top 5 car gimmicks

The CES convention is home to some of the most ridiculous but mind-blowing technology, offering a plethora of futuristic equipment and toys that no one has ever asked for. The Chinese car company BYD even decided to get involved, where they once again displayed their Yangwang U9, the car with possibly the best name ever, and its jumping car party trick. Now, you might be asking, why would a car need to jump? This a question the automotive industry has been asking since its initial concept. Until now! BYD has finally answered the question, and it seems to be potentially one of the most pointless car gimmicks ever, unless you were playing Rocket League.

Car News China uploaded a video to their YouTube channel of the U9 jumping over three different everyday obstacles you may encounter along the road: a large pothole, a stretch of tiny metal spikes seemingly laid out by James Bond’s Aston Martin, and the most deadly of them all, some coloured chalk stripes. Now, due to the U9’s Disus X active suspension, it easily clears all three obstacles as it autonomously travels at 74.5 mph, but honestly, when are you ever going to use this in your day-to-day commute?

But this got me thinking: what are some of the best pointless car gimmicks in automotive history?

5. Tesla’s dancing car

Do you struggle with finding a partner to dance with? Well, fret no more! Mr Elon Musk has got your back and created the perfect dance partner for those with £90,000 to spend. The Tesla Model X comes equipped with a dance feature which plays some music, flashes some lights and opens the car’s doors. That’s it. So when your wife wants to leave you for wasting your money on an overly expensive car, you’ll still have a dancing partner after the divorce.

4. Digital rear-view mirrors

I can’t stress enough that some things do not need to be reinvented. A perfect example of this is your rear-view mirror. A few recent models of cars have replaced the functional rear-view mirror with a digital display and a rear-mounted camera. This gimmick is less specific to an individual company, but why are we over-engineering the mirror? It’s just something else that can and will go wrong, and when it does, there’s no backup. The only use for this is in transit vans with no back windows, not in your Lexus LS for example.

3. Car fragrance atomiser

Have you ever picked up a date in your lovely 2014 Mercedes S-Class, only to realise she smells worse than your wet dog? Well, don’t worry! As for an extra £350 when you purchased your vehicle, you could equip your car with a fragrance atomiser to refresh the smell within your cabin, so you no longer have to worry about your date spoiling the luxurious and refined aroma of your Mercedes.

2. Hidden car umbrella

Skoda and Rolls Royce, two car manufacturers developed in countries plagued by rainfall, have come equipped for the conditions they were designed within. Both brands are known for having an optional hidden umbrella stashed within the car door, offering a subtle air of sophistication as you pull out your car-branded umbrella, where the Rolls Royce umbrella may suggest a bit more sophistication than the Skoda-branded one.

Heated steering wheel

We have this invention to thank for making the driving gloves, and the fluffy pink steering wheel covers obsolete. With a warm, toasty steering wheel, you have absolutely no excuse now to wear driving gloves or decorate the inside of your car with a seemingly skinned unicorn. Now, this invention has no real practical use whatsoever, except for making your hands sweaty, which will ruin the leather on your steering wheel, but who doesn’t want toasty hands when driving your Volkswagen Golf, for example?

“2024 Yangwang U9 front view 01” by iMoD Official is licensed under CC BY 3.0.