New York International Auto Show's Coolest Concept Cars

From clean energy to a luxury SUV with its own set of steps.

ByABC News
March 24, 2016, 4:37 PM

— -- These aren't cars you can drive off the dealership lot now but the forward-thinking designs and features packed into the concept cars at the New York International Auto Show display imagination and highlight how drivers and passengers may interact with cars in the future.

Lincoln's Navigator concept made its world debut at this year's New York International Auto Show at the Javits Center, impressing with gull-wing doors that make the beastly SUV look more like a Tesla Model X than what one would traditionally think of a Lincoln. Concertina steps descending on both sides of the vehicle also provide the driver and passengers a stylish way to get inside the vehicle's nautical inspired interior.

"We are having so much fun with this. [I] love the doors and the wow factor of the concertina steps as they roll out. It is just an amazing wow moment and it shows off the interior," Kumar Galhotra, president of Lincoln, told ABC News.

It also didn't hurt that Lincoln spokesman Matthew McConaughey was on hand to show off the concept car, which is set to have a production version go on sale in 2017.

Meanwhile, Toyota glanced 15 years into the future with its FCV Plus concept car, a quirky white-and-blue vehicle that takes Toyota's existing fuel cell stack technology to the next level. At the show, Toyota demonstrates by using inductive charging to let the FCV Plus share power with another car, essentially act as a charging hotspot.

A chemical reaction involving hydrogen and oxygen allows fuel cell vehicles to generate enough electricity to power a motor.

"This is looking to the future with a smaller, more powerful fuel cell stack. What if you could not power one home but you could power 10 homes? Or what if you could send power back to the grid? What if you could power another vehicle?" Kelly Paredes, a Toyota product specialist, told ABC News.

Toyota also showed off its C-HR concept, a crossover concept vehicle with tapered corners and hybrid power. A U.S. production model of the vehicle is expected to debut later this year and go on sale in spring 2017.

Hyundai's luxury Genesis brand debuted its New York luxury sport hybrid concept car at the show and packed a 21-inch curved, 4K display made by LG inside of the vehicle. Drivers can use a bowl-shaped central control panel, which can respond to 3-D gesture controls, along with single and multi-touch swipes.