Photo courtesy of Chevrolet.

Photo courtesy of Chevrolet.

The production-ready Chevrolet Bolt EV is scheduled to make its debut at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES), which will occur in Las Vegas from Jan. 6-9, along with many other concept vehicles from various automotive manufacturers.

Mark Reuss, GM executive vice president, told The Verge that the company will unveil the production Bolt at this year’s CES. The Bolt is expected to provide an estimated 200 miles on a single charge and contains a lithium-ion battery that can be charged to 80% in less than 45 minutes. It is also expected to be the first longer-range battery-electric model that's affordable to the average customer.

Other automotive companies, such as Toyota, BMW, Volkswagen, and newcomer Faraday Future, are expected to announce new electric vehicle concepts at the show as well.

Other show announcements should touch on advancements toward connected vehicles and automated driving.

Toyota will announce new details regarding a high-precision map generation system that will use data from on-board cameras and GPS devices installed in production vehicles to help aid the safe implementation of automated driving. Toyota's new system uses camera-equipped production vehicles to gather road images and vehicle positional information. This information is sent to data centers, where it is automatically pieced together, corrected, and updated to generate high precision road maps that cover a wide area.

CES 2016 will also showcase Toyota’s next-generation framework for connected vehicle and telematics systems.

Toyota isn't the only company investing in automated vehicles. Ford is expected to announce a joint partnership with Google to develop self-driving vehicles.

Faraday Future, the company that wants to take on Tesla, will be bringing a concept of their fully-electric, currently nameless vehicle. The company is known for being vague, but they recently announced that they will be opening a production facility in North Las Vegas.

Volkswagen will present a completely new concept car and promises, “…the beginning of a new era of affordable long-distance electromobility.” Chairman of the Volkswagen Passenger Cars brand Dr Herbert Diess will be holding the keynote on the evening before the show opens, and the main focus of his speech will be on the latest developments in electromobility as well as the next generation of connectivity.

One new feature they will be presenting is AirTouch: a feature that allows the driver to control entertainment, navigation, and communication functions using simple gestures made with a flat hand. This enables the display in a vehicle to be operated like a touchscreen without actually having to make contact with the surface.

Finally, BMW will be showcasing its Internet of Things and Smart Home integrations, the Interior of the Future, Future Driving Experiences, and BMW ConnectedRide innovations.

The company will demonstrate how the all-electric BMW i3 can be further connected to drivers’ daily lives with Internet of Things and Smart Home integrations. This feature will allow drivers to precondition their homes and vehicles, remotely park their BMW i3, and schedule a charging program based on their daily agenda. They will also exhibit ConnectedDrive innovations currently available in the BMW 7 Series, including remote controlled parking, gesture control, and touch command.

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