Visualizing the future has been man’s favorite pastime for centuries. The excitement of imagining and predicting how the future would look like has been the hallmark of humanity. When the first car rolled out of the assembly line in 1886, speculations on how cars would be a century later were already being entertained, and true to our nature, things do look different today. The following are some of the things we should expect from future cars:
Autonomous Cars
A first look into how future cars will operate is already here with us. Tests are being conducted for self-driving cars and everyday new barriers are being broken. A decade from now we should expect to see self-driving cars on the roads. You may ask yourself what the point of autonomous cars would be, the reasons are many, but an example of a simple one, you will be able to do whatever you want when you go out for a night without worrying about who will be behind the wheel on the way back.
The Will Be 3D-Printed
One of the stumbling blocks in the early years of car manufacturing was the time it took to make them. Back then, the assembly of cars depended mainly on human labor and this took time. As technology improved robots started taking over the manufacture. The same is expected to continue in the future. 3D-Printing technology will be so advanced that cars will be created through this method. All assembly plants will need is to set up a robot CNC machine that will work alongside assembly robots to make the process much faster.
Advanced Safety Features
Car accidents are usually caused by human errors. The inability to gauge distance or speed has been the demise of many people on the roads every year. future cars will come integrated with safety features that will help stop road accidents. Features like collision warnings, proximity alerts when cars get too close on top of a display showing the terrain of the road ahead will help drivers make better judgments. They will even possess the ability to detect other road users like cyclists, pedestrians, helping drivers avoid knocking anyone down.
Car-to-Car Communication
In the same way that phones can connect over a network for easy file sharing, future cars will be able to connect with each other for better operations. By being connected to the same grid through the V2V Technology, cars can share alerts on traffic pile-ups ahead, accidents, availability of parking spots, and so forth. Information like this will make driving around more comfortable and much safer compared to the current crop of drivers who move around almost blindly.
Biometric Car Access
To stamp out car theft, future cars will come equipped with biometric access that can only work when the authorized user allows it to. It is virtually impossible to stop current types of cars from being stolen, the best they can do is have an alarm system that only notifies you of an ongoing theft. With biometric access, car burglaries will be confined to the annals of history since cars will be able to only respond to owners. The biometric access will be set up in such a way that only the owner of the car can open the door or start the ignition.
Remote Shutdown
Another handy feature that is geared towards vehicular security, one that has already been test-ran in some parts of the world. Future cars will come with a fully functioning remote shutdown feature that allows you to power down the car when it is stolen, no matter how far the burglars have gone with it. The one thing that will give car thieves nightmares as far as this feature is concerned is that once the car has been powered down to a stop, there is nothing they can do to escape from it. They cannot even open the doors on their own.
Driver Monitoring
Imagine a car so advanced to the point that it can monitor all your vitals and your physiological condition. Future cars will have sensors that monitor the general health of the driver to stop them from causing an accident incase their ability to drive is compromised by sleep, a heart attack or any other medical condition. This feature will help cut down road accidents significantly. In the event they detect something is wrong, the cars will be programmed to shut themselves down by slowly pulling over to the side of the road until help arrives. Better yet, if they are autonomous, they can take over the driving and immediately re-route to a hospital.
Advanced Displays
Future cars will come with internal screens that not only show what lies ahead but also what is around you, above you and below. All the information will be displayed on a screen to help the driver make better judgements in advance. The technology in question is called the Heads-Up Display and it has been around since the 90s. In the next decade or so it will be highly advanced.
Conclusion
The need to salvage the environment and promote sustainability has pushed many car makers to look into solutions for the future. Since we cannot do without cars, the best option would be to find ways of ensuring they have the least impact on the environment.