New York Auto Show 2017: the latest news and fastest cars

Decades ago, most drivers were trained on how to drive a stick shift. The familiar layout of of two perpendicular lines that looked like double Hs appeared on gear shift knobs in automobiles and this configuration became an intuitive part of getting behind the wheel. But as cars began to use more sophisticated electronic engineering, the automatic transmission eventually became independent from the shifter, freeing up designers to rethink how the insides of cars should appear. As a result, outside of the rare traditional manual transmission sports car, the design of the modern electronic gear shifter has nearly given away to buttons and selectors.

Modern cars and SUVs look more and more like giant gadgets on wheels. Some are laid out like airplane cockpits. In other cars, though the shift lever itself doesn’t mechanically control the transmission, it still appears in stick-like design, but laid out in a different pattern than the traditional knob. In other cases, the shifter functions more like a video game joystick. Across the board, maneuvering these new systems is not necessarily intuitive. The question is will drivers remember how to change gears if they cycle through different vehicles? Or might they accidentally hit a wrong button and shift into reverse? We wonder if the altered designs will leave drivers scrambling to find the right button in a clutch.

Car manufacturers showed off new hydrogen fuel cell-powered vehicles, more sophisticated autonomous driving features, and at least one dog-centric vehicle at this year’s New York Auto Show, but what about the screens that we at The Verge love? In our ScreenDrive series we review cars’ screens, and this year’s show gave us a preview of what to expect from displays over the next year.

You would think after nearly a decade of screens existing in cars, manufacturers would have come to some sort of consensus on what user interface works best, but that’s not the case. Some manufacturers think drivers want knobs and buttons to control their displays, others think touchscreens are the only way, and others even forego both for a regular screen paired with a touchpad. All these displays run proprietary software, too. It’s dizzying.

Hydrogen is the most abundant element in the universe, so its appeal to the fossil fuel-addicted auto industry is obvious. But while most car companies think they’ll be able to sell hydrogen fuel cell cars to eco-minded consumers, they are ignoring a glaring opportunity: that hydrogen-powered cars could be the perfect fuel for our self-driving, on-demand future.

This week, Honda introduced two new versions of the Clarity: a plug-in hybrid version with an all-electric range of 40 miles, and a battery-powered version, the range of which is undisclosed. Honda says it has close to 100 hydrogen-powered vehicles on the road in California today — the only state in the US with anything approaching a hydrogen fueling infrastructure. The automaker hopes to eventually sell “thousands” of fuel cell vehicles over the next four years.

The hydrogen fuel cell bandwagon is getting crowded. Despite the limitations of the technology (California is the only state with fueling infrastructure), major brands like Honda, Hyundai, Toyota, and Kia say they want to mass-produce more zero-emission, fuel cell vehicles. Now Genesis, a luxury brand spun off from Hyundai, is joining the pack with its new concept, the GV80.

Genesis says the luxury SUV concept utilizes “the latest plug-in hydrogen fuel cell electric technology to combine eco-performance and capability, all skillfully designed to fulfill the needs and explore the escapes of the urban adventurer.” That means the vehicle is powered by electricity generated from both a rechargeable battery and hydrogen fuel cells.

The New York Auto Show is the most attended car show in the world, and it begins this Friday at the Javits Center in midtown Manhattan, running through April 23rd. Just about every major automaker will be in attendance, showing off both cars you can buy today as well as new concepts hinting at what’s coming soon. Here’s what we’re looking forward to:

It’s hard to understand how large the new Lincoln Navigator is without standing next to it. To be fair, its size isn’t vastly different from the old one, and it hasn’t changed much from the concept vehicle Lincoln showed at last year’s New York Auto Show, but it remains an imposing presence. I called the previous concept a “massive, luxurious land yacht,” and I stand by that description.

It’s the New York Auto Show this week, which usually signals the onslaught of concept vehicles — cars that showcase a lot of nifty design elements, but for the most part will never be built and sold on a mass scale. First out of the gate is Toyota with its FT-4X, which may have the distinction of being the concept-iest concept car I’ve ever seen.

This is less of a vehicle and more of a giant, rolling Leatherman multi-tool with four-wheel drive. Or a big, orange gearbox on wheels. Everything in this car is actually something else. The arm-rest is also a North Face sleeping bag. The handlebars are water bottles. The dashboard is a boombox. The trunk doors contain a hidden warmer and refrigerator.

It’s hard to understand how large the new Lincoln Navigator is without standing next to it. To be fair, its size isn’t vastly different from the old one, and it hasn’t changed much from the concept vehicle Lincoln showed at last year’s New York Auto Show, but it remains an imposing presence. I called the previous concept a “massive, luxurious land yacht,” and I stand by that description.

Lincoln is focused on providing “quiet luxury,” and has some interesting services in the works to personalize the experience for its customers. There’s a Pickup & Delivery option that allows owners to have their car retrieved from their home or work for maintenance, freeing them from the tiresome task of heading to the dealership.

The Dodge Demon is both the world’s fastest production car, and a gauntlet thrown down by Dodge, allowing the company to declare itself as the home of the “Muscle Brotherhood.” It’s a new tagline inspired by the Fast and the Furious franchise and Dodge’s new pitchman, Vin Diesel — the actor was onstage tonight at a noisy, tire smoke-filled press event to launch the Demon ahead of the start of the New York Auto Show tomorrow.

To hear Dodge’s Tim Kuniskis describe it, the Demon is meant to show that Dodge isn’t like other car companies. I’ve long said that the 707-horsepower Hellcat, launched by Dodge a few years ago, would have gotten killed off at most automakers — who needs a car with more than 700 horsepower? That’s crazy. No one should have bought it. But they kept it alive, brought it to market, and buyers flocked to Dodge showrooms. And now, they’ve done it again.

The Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk has 707-horsepower and can go 0–60 in 3.5 seconds — Jeep says this makes it the quickest SUV ever, though we suspect Tesla might disagree since the Model X (which is really sort of a crossover) can make that run in 2.9 seconds.

A few years ago, Dodge released its Challenger and Charger Hellcat models: insanely powerful muscle cars equipped with a supercharged V8 that makes an astonishing 707-horsepower. Jeep engineers have spent the past few years figuring out how to jam that glorious Hellcat engine into a Jeep Grand Cherokee and, crucially, how to make it work with an all-wheel drive system without the whole thing exploding into little pieces.

Starting this fall, the new Cadillac CT6 sedan will be the first car from GM to include Super Cruise, the highly automated (and hotly anticipated) driving technology. With a combination of cameras, sensors, and mapping data, Super Cruise will allow drivers to take their hands off the wheel during highway driving. Cadillac says Super Cruise represents “the industry’s first true hands-free driving technology” — a clear shot at Tesla and its semi-autonomous Autopilot system.

What Super Cruise won’t allow, though, is for the driver to get in the backseat and watch the car drive itself — as some Tesla drivers did before the software was updated to require the driver’s hands remain on the steering wheel. The CT6 comes with a driver-facing camera attached to the top of the steering column using infrared light to track head position and determine whether the driver is paying attention. If the driver attention wanders, Super Cruise uses an escalating series of alerts to ensure the driver keeps his or her eyes on the road.