Inside, the Experimental is a clear departure from today’s Vauxhalls, and while the concept’s designers have taken a typically exaggerated approach to cabin design, it provides a clear, overarching view of Vauxhall’s future priorities. Every screen has been replaced by holographic interfaces, for example, and head-up-display projections span the full width of the windscreen, “dematerialising the interior”.
Critical functions are controlled using a panel of buttons on the centre console, while gestures and voice instructions are used for infotainment.
Unusually, the sat-nav system does not project arrows onto the windscreen head-up display. Instead, it enters a mixed-reality mode in which the driver is virtually escorted by the Opel Manta GSe Elektromod – a nod to the firm’s plan to revive the Manta name for a coupé-SUV in 2025.
The interior is trimmed in white electrochromic fabric, which is made from textile fibres interwoven with thin LED strands. Every surface that uses the material – the dashboard, seats, door cards and more – can be lit in any colour desired, for greater personalisation. It means that Vauxhall could theoretically build its cars with a single interior colour at the factory, leaving it up to the driver to set the colour.
The Experimental also nods to Vauxhall’s plans to eventually offer self-driving functionality, with the steering wheel folding into the dashboard when the computer takes control. Adams suggested the concept’s smart-glass windows could become opaque when in self-driving mode to foster a more relaxing, lounge-like environment – but such technology is many years away.