**REPORTER'S NOTEBOOK** *By Hope King* At this year's Los Angeles Auto Show, I came face to face with a future promised by sci-fi novels and films. The BMW Vision iNEXT concept car drew me in and refused to let me go. The electric SUV, which promises to have [level 3 autonomy](https://www.caranddriver.com/features/path-to-autonomy-self-driving-car-levels-0-to-5-explained-feature) when production begins in 2021, looks like nothing else on the road ー yet somehow seems familiar. BMW teased the car earlier in the year, but debuted it to a media audience this week. From a distance, the iNEXT resembles an armored stallion. The exterior ー which some say is copper colored, while I consider it rose gold ー is designed much like a crossover. There are large windows that appear seamless from top to front and side to side. Up close, the concept car stirred feelings I had when I first saw the vehicles in [Stephen Spielberg's "A.I."](https://bestmoviecars.com/all-cars-in-a-i-artificial-intelligence-2001/). Since BMW intends for the car to drive sans human interaction, the interior has been designed to mimic a comfortable living space ー in the vein of a waiting room or hotel lobby. The seats are wide and deep. There are very few buttons ー the fabric is interactive and will respond to gesture control. There are two wide screen display panels to view controls, watch movies, or conduct email. The steering wheel and pedals retreat when the car drives on its own. "We need space for the customer," Elmar Frickenstein, BMW's head of autonomous driving, told me. "The customer can sleep in the car, can relax, read a newspaper in backseat. We \[created\] an interior to do this." I’m fairly new to the auto space. But I've been covering consumer technology long enough to understand how the two industries are melding. Technology makers often talk about wanting to improve lives, increase comfort, convenience and time available with their products. When it comes to evolving the automobile, the idea is: if we spend less time driving ourselves, we can spend more time on needs and wants. I think [Wonhong Cho, Hyundai's chief marketing officer, said it best in his interview with my Cheddar Rides co-host Tamara Warren](https://cheddar.com/videos/hyundai-turbo-charges-suv-market-with-new-and-redesigned-models): "In the past the car was regarded as just a transportation tool ー moving people from A to B. But right now, the car is a very important part of life. We want to provide quality time \[and\] experience inside the car and outside the car."
