1. Self-driving cars
From BMW to Bentley, everyone wants to make a fully autonomous car. Serial disruptor Google’s having a go too, with a self-driver that’s clocked up 400,000 miles without an accident, while Oxford University researchers are working to make the tech available in a unit that costs £100. A connected car needs to know where it is, but it also needs to be aware of the location of other vehicles and infrastructure. That means the way we build cities may have to change to accommodate them.
2. Fuel of the future
Range anxiety may be a first-world problem par excellence but the fact is, it’s putting the brakes on early adoption of electric vehicles (EVs). Peppy new entrants such as Renault’s excellent, surprisingly affordable Zoe EV could start to buck that trend, but thanks to efficiency leaps and hybrid tech, petrol and diesel engines will remain the biggest sellers for the foreseeable – the cars posing with our model throughout this feature are all hybrids.
3. Safety tech
Ford and others are working on car-to-car comms, with web-linked vehicles warning each other of crater-sized potholes or traffic snarl-ups they’ve just hit. It’s another step towards fully autonomous cars. Meanwhile, Intel is researching a sophisticated headlighting system that can “see through” rain, making night-drives through downpours safer.
4. In-car apps
Ford recently held an AppLink hackathon with Google that threw up ideas including playlists and navigation driven by your friends’ favourites on Facebook. Vauxhall’s parent company GM is plotting apps driven by an “intention engine”. It’ll know the car needs refuelling before you do, giving you a poke when you happen to be passing the cheapest petrol station in town.
5. Futuristic designs
Paint-jobs could become a thing of the past as your car becomes more like a smartphone home page on wheels. The body of Toyota’s Fun-Vii concept is one big touchscreen, letting you display any colour, image or message you fancy. Again, fully-automated cars will bring about a sea-change, with “heritage” conventions such as forward-facing seats and even four wheels going out the window. Developments in 3D printing could also lead to radical new shapes and more personalised detailing.
6. The changing cockpit
The quest for lower emissions will soon throw up clever cabin features for saving energy. BMW is working on infra-red heating panels for its “i” range of electric cars, while Peugeot wants to introduce fully recyclable interiors. Ford design director, J Mays, reckons voice and gesture controls could eventually mean no more physical buttons and switches, radically changing car interiors. Researchers at Ford also reckon adaptable nano materials will make for cabins that can reconfigure on the fly, allowing you to maximise cabin space.
7. Full connectivity
The future of car connectivity is all about what you do with it. That starts with things like the car communicating its location and seamless navigation that combines in-car with on-foot. As Ford’s Evos concept recently showed, pretty soon we’ll also be talking context-aware and cloud-connected cars that sync with your diary and social networks and know where you’re going and who you’re meeting even before you jump on board.
8. Lower emissions
The EU targets demand a 35 per cent drop in average new car emissions between 2015 and 2020. If that’s to be achieved, conventional combustion engines and hybrids will need to improve, helped by predictive power management that optimises for road conditions – EVs are likely to remain a niche market. Further ahead, self-driving cars in aero-efficient “train” formations could also help cut CO2.
9. Ultimate entertainment
Get ready for… Laser movie projectors as head lights! The recent Mercedes GLA concept is equipped with just that, letting you paint navigation cues on the road ahead as well as showing content from Mercedes’ COMAND entertainment platform. Just find a nice clean wall at your local multi-storey for instant, drive-in fun. Easy, in-car streaming of cloud-based music, movies and TVs will be with us just as soon as the 4G mobile infrastructure is all in place.
Tejas Thakker
From BMW to Bentley, everyone wants to make a fully autonomous car. Serial disruptor Google’s having a go too, with a self-driver that’s clocked up 400,000 miles without an accident, while Oxford University researchers are working to make the tech available in a unit that costs £100. A connected car needs to know where it is, but it also needs to be aware of the location of other vehicles and infrastructure. That means the way we build cities may have to change to accommodate them.
2. Fuel of the future
Range anxiety may be a first-world problem par excellence but the fact is, it’s putting the brakes on early adoption of electric vehicles (EVs). Peppy new entrants such as Renault’s excellent, surprisingly affordable Zoe EV could start to buck that trend, but thanks to efficiency leaps and hybrid tech, petrol and diesel engines will remain the biggest sellers for the foreseeable – the cars posing with our model throughout this feature are all hybrids.
3. Safety tech
Ford and others are working on car-to-car comms, with web-linked vehicles warning each other of crater-sized potholes or traffic snarl-ups they’ve just hit. It’s another step towards fully autonomous cars. Meanwhile, Intel is researching a sophisticated headlighting system that can “see through” rain, making night-drives through downpours safer.
4. In-car apps
Ford recently held an AppLink hackathon with Google that threw up ideas including playlists and navigation driven by your friends’ favourites on Facebook. Vauxhall’s parent company GM is plotting apps driven by an “intention engine”. It’ll know the car needs refuelling before you do, giving you a poke when you happen to be passing the cheapest petrol station in town.
5. Futuristic designs
Paint-jobs could become a thing of the past as your car becomes more like a smartphone home page on wheels. The body of Toyota’s Fun-Vii concept is one big touchscreen, letting you display any colour, image or message you fancy. Again, fully-automated cars will bring about a sea-change, with “heritage” conventions such as forward-facing seats and even four wheels going out the window. Developments in 3D printing could also lead to radical new shapes and more personalised detailing.
6. The changing cockpit
The quest for lower emissions will soon throw up clever cabin features for saving energy. BMW is working on infra-red heating panels for its “i” range of electric cars, while Peugeot wants to introduce fully recyclable interiors. Ford design director, J Mays, reckons voice and gesture controls could eventually mean no more physical buttons and switches, radically changing car interiors. Researchers at Ford also reckon adaptable nano materials will make for cabins that can reconfigure on the fly, allowing you to maximise cabin space.
7. Full connectivity
The future of car connectivity is all about what you do with it. That starts with things like the car communicating its location and seamless navigation that combines in-car with on-foot. As Ford’s Evos concept recently showed, pretty soon we’ll also be talking context-aware and cloud-connected cars that sync with your diary and social networks and know where you’re going and who you’re meeting even before you jump on board.
8. Lower emissions
The EU targets demand a 35 per cent drop in average new car emissions between 2015 and 2020. If that’s to be achieved, conventional combustion engines and hybrids will need to improve, helped by predictive power management that optimises for road conditions – EVs are likely to remain a niche market. Further ahead, self-driving cars in aero-efficient “train” formations could also help cut CO2.
9. Ultimate entertainment
Get ready for… Laser movie projectors as head lights! The recent Mercedes GLA concept is equipped with just that, letting you paint navigation cues on the road ahead as well as showing content from Mercedes’ COMAND entertainment platform. Just find a nice clean wall at your local multi-storey for instant, drive-in fun. Easy, in-car streaming of cloud-based music, movies and TVs will be with us just as soon as the 4G mobile infrastructure is all in place.
Tejas Thakker
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