Technologies which will soon change motoring forever

 

Looking into the rapidly-approaching future

By Martin Pretorius

Automotive technology has improved in leaps and bounds with the advent of affordable electronic systems. Here's a quick overview of five developments which will change motoring very soon. There's a lot to get excited (or concerned) about:

Electrification of everything

We're already familiar with hybrid vehicles: they represent a crucial intermediate step between our fossil-fuelled past and electrically-propelled future. But until battery technology makes that breakthrough which will eliminate range anxiety and hours of charging time, the internal combustion engine will remain the main source of motive power.

That won't keep manufacturers from adding more electric systems, though – power steering was only the first step. We'll soon see widespread application of electric turbos (Audi already uses these in some of their top-level cars); more regenerative braking systems (many cars already harvest energy under braking to charge their batteries); and air-conditioning which doesn't run on engine power, but uses inverter-type compressors like the one in your office.

Autonomous driving

Some high-end luxury cars already incorporate some level of autonomy, and all the building blocks for self-driving cars are already in place. Think about pedestrian detection, radar- and camera-guided lane-keeping assistance, adaptive cruise control, automatic emergency braking, and on-board navigation: these are almost all the things you need to make a car drive itself.

Add vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication to this mix, and the road to fully autonomous transport opens up completely: if your car knows what the ones around it are doing, and it can scan the road for potential hazards, it will be able to safely navigate its way through traffic. V2V communication (and thus full autonomy) might still be some way off, but that doesn't keep manufacturers from already adding clever gadgets such as self-parking (BMW has a particularly cool, remote-controlled system) and traffic jam assistance.

Further downsizing, even for sports cars

As the noose of emission regulations tightens around the internal combustion engine, expect to see more hybrids and ever-shrinking engines. The new Honda NSX and Ford GT (neither of which is available in South Africa, sadly) are good examples, with the former aiding its (relatively) small petrol engine through battery power, and the latter using a small, highly boosted V6 engine to extract the power of an old V12.

Mercedes-AMG is due to take this principle to the next level by using a Formula 1-derived 1.6-litre engine and electric assistance to produce up to 1000 horsepower for their newly-revealed Project One hypercar. The first 4-cylinder supercar can't be too far away either, especially as Koenigsegg in Sweden is reportedly already working on their own variation on this theme. We're sure going to miss the howl of a naturally aspirated V10 or V12, though...

Internet integration

Many cars already support in-car wi-fi hotspots and web browsers, and even social media integration can be had on some luxury cars. Some others offer a range of online abilities to look for nearby petrol stations or make hotel- or restaurant reservations. Coming up next will be automatic software updates (to continually optimise the vehicle's operation) and personalised in-car marketing – just like Google does when you browse the web on your smartphone. We're not so sure that adding more distractions to driving is a great idea, but it's only a matter of time before you start getting notifications of special offers or promotions near your location. Then again, online shopping in your self-driving car could save you some time, we hope?

The death of the ignition key

Seeing as future cars will be connected to the internet in any case, there's no reason why you won't be able to access and start your car from your cellphone as well. Volvo has already rolled out a “connected car” trial in Sweden, where a Bluetooth-based system allows users to activate their vehicles simply by being in close proximity. BMW is also ahead of this bandwagon, and is considering moving over to smartphone apps instead of issuing dedicated keys – the i8 and new 5- and 7-series cars already use keys which resemble smartphones more than the simple metal items with which we've grown up.

Advantages include the ability to set the climate control remotely (such as pulling down the cabin temperatures before you get in), limiting the power output for specific users (such as young drivers or valet parking assistants), having your (future, autonomous) car come to you even if it's parked itself in a faraway garage, and receiving warning notifications when your car is being tampered with. How flat batteries will affect the operation of these keyles vehicles is obviously still open to speculation, but let's hope the engineers find a viable solution before getting rid of physical keys!