Rinspeed previews a 2017 concept car – complete with space to grow plants

While we’re still digesting last week’s visit to the Paris Motor Show, Rinspeed has unveiled the first pictures of its next show car. Called Oasis, the two-seater concept will debut at CES 2017 in Las Vegas.

It has been designed for future urban environments, and to offer a distinct alternative to the current crossover trend. Given the total preoccupation with the format, we’re rapidly becoming fans of ABC – Anything But Crossovers – and Rinspeed’s car offers a number of the refreshing human-centric touches that its cars often show.

While this year’s Etos autonomous car featured a bookshelf and flower-delivering drone, the new car includes a small garden ahead of the IP and beneath the front screen “for growing flowers or radishes” according to Rinspeed’s press release.

Beneath the in-car garden, the front mask wraps around and over the front wheels, giving a promised near-zero turning circle. Full bodyside glazing also helps contribute to the greenhouse effect, while at the rear is a code-protected drawer that allows the car to be used for transporting goods such as pizzas or shopping for delivery businesses. The drawer can be heated or cooled as required.

The Oasis is fully autonomous and its interior design embraces the potential this offers, taking cues from contemporary house design to include two Eames-style armchairs that face two large flatscreen TVs. The windscreen also serves as an augmented reality display.

Rinspeed’s work is free from the confines of a carmaker’s brand book or pressure from the marketing department, and its distance from the mainstream car industry often lends a welcome reality check.

Considering that the interior of an autonomous car could and should bear more similarity to your living room, reducing the adjustment required to transition between the two and amplifying the comfort and relaxation as a result seems like an interesting idea. The car is supposed to be an Oasis after all.