The car industry moves at breakneck speed, with new innovations and ideas coming to the fore every year. As we adapt to new technology, car manufacturers rush to implement it to make driving safer, more economical and more enjoyable. Over the years, there have been a lot of big changes, and cars on the road today look and drive very differently to those of previous decades.
What will cars of the future look like? Well while flying cars might be a fantasy, that doesn’t mean that the next generation of cars won’t be highly futuristic. Here are some of the most interesting and innovative designs that we could see on the road over the next few years.
Heads Up Displays and Imaging Improvements
When you’re driving, it’s incredibly important to be able to see everything happening around you. Staying alert to potential hazards as they develop is key to avoiding serious accidents, and better technology may help to improve road safety standards.
One area of technology that’s been trialled in road cars before is heads up displays. These project important information onto the windshield. This can help drivers focus on the road ahead of them rather than looking down at instrument panels. When combined with cameras and AI, heads up displays could even recognise potential hazards and warn drivers as they appear.
Most modern cars are equipped with parking sensors and cameras to aid drivers, and special imaging tools could also help to improve safety while driving at night. A thermal camera can pick up shapes and objects in low light, helping drivers avoid potential collisions with animals that run onto the road out of the dark.
Autonomous Driving
Autonomous driving has been big news over the past few years, with companies like Tesla trialling it on roads across the world. While the idea of a driverless car might seem scary, AI can be trained to respond to hazards and react much faster than a human. The difficult part is training it properly, and there have been some teething issues.
Despite some of the much-publicised issues with autonomous driving, many experts still believe that this will be the future of driving. People will be able to get into their car and take a nap while on a long journey, or spend their time working while taking their morning commute. The technology still has a long way to go, but if it helps reduce accidents, it will be worth it.
Driverless vehicles would be particularly useful for industries such as trucking, which could cut costs and improve delivery times by using either a combination of AI and human or just AI drivers. Fully autonomous cars don’t have a launch date yet, but they’re likely to be the hottest topic in the automotive industry over the next few years.
Improved Sustainability
Making cars more sustainable is an important goal of manufacturers and governments all over the world. For a long time, we’ve relied on the combustion engine to get around, but the results of burning fossil fuels is damaging to the environment. Now, with the effects of climate change taking hold, it’s more important than ever to focus on sustainability.
Electric vehicles seem to be the way things are going, with most major manufacturers now releasing their own EV line. Some companies such as Honda have even announced that they plan to only sell electric and fuel cell electric cars by the near future. Fast charging and improvements to battery loads and capacities are helping electric become a better alternative, and one that can be fully sustainable if the electricity is obtained through renewable sources.
This is a Take to the Road Collaborated Post
