Last week we mentioned that 9 disappearing trends will mark the end of the current day motoring enthusiast as we know it. It was a very grim piece indeed, but progress is something we can not avoid. However not everything is a lost cause with autonomous cars and electric motors. Here are 10 motorists dream come true we can expect in the near future.
Thousand Horsepower family cars
Which is not impossible as Tesla’s and Taycan’s are already clocking in excess of 600bhp. That’s an output that Jeremy Clarkson raved about when he reviewed the Lamborghini Murcielago in 2013. With the advancements we have in battery tech and electric motors, we could see family SUV’s and MPV’s clocking in excess of 1000bhp on all wheels. And it would feel docile to handle thanks to the precision you can have at controlling an EV’s outpout.
No more rush hour driving
Another reason why 1000 horsepower cars will be commonplace is because, you wont be driving it. Autonomous driving technology has already made a huge progress in the last 5 years. Imagine what the exponential growth will result in 15 years time? Which means never will you ever again have to deal with enduring the pain of driving through rush hour traffic.
Or there might never be rush hour traffic
Most of the time, traffic congestions are caused by drivers who drive inefficiently. We can look into this in our next special feature. But in an overview, poor driving ethic’s or judgement causes waste in space between cars. With autonomous driving, these errors can be omitted, freeing the roads for more space, and therefore freer flowing traffic. Congestion itself could be a thing of the past….
Or any more accidents
Rather that’s what we can wish for. With autonomous driving, the whole driver error variable can be erased. In fact driver error is said to be the biggest contributor to road accident fatalities in Malaysia. With driver error taken out we are going to see a significant reduction in traffic accidents. Not only lives will be saved, but also time. Since there’s no accidents, there will be no onlookers to slow the traffic on both lanes too!
Which means your commute is now your Zen time
On average we could spend as much as 2 hours commuting to and from work in a day. That’s 10 hours per week, and nearly 20 days per year. This otherwise stress inducing, emotion draining daily grind can now be your most relaxing part of the day, as you no longer have to take the wheels. You can eat, watch a full episode on netflix, game or even just sleep between your commutes, when the tech has advanced enough.
With noise free drivetrain
Engine noise and vibrations appealing to the enthusiasts, on the right day. But during normal commutes on your daily, its the biggest contributor to fatigue. What you want is a quiet and vibration free ride. EV’s will give you that, as they produce extremely low noise. In fact your tyre roar will be the one overpowering the drivetrain noise. Imagine listening to your favorite tunes in a car this silent. A 1000 bhp, 7 seat, sound studio on wheels that drives itself. Bliss.
More integrated tech in your car
Just like how the mobile phone went from performing calls only to being a hand held multimedia device, the car will also evolve. With electric power and self driving tech, you can free yourself up for more creature comfort. Imagine an Apple tech integrated cabin, or an IKEA designed interior. Just to bring a little bit of home on 4 wheels.
Enjoy the environment
You know those lovely trains in Switzerland with those high windows? The ones designed to allow you as much view as you can of the passing mountains and landscapes? Each and every car ‘Autonomous and EV’ cars can now be your very own ‘Swiss Mountain View train’. Imagine driving across some of our picturesque mountain roads, and being able to enjoy the view without worrying about staying on the road. You would want to explore every possible road available just for this reason
Lesser maintenance
With EV’s there’s a significant reduction in moving parts, especially in the engine and gearbox. Therefore the maintenance will be reduced to brakes, tyres and battery packs. As the tech improves, even the otherwise expensive battery packs have could become a whole lot more cheaper. In fact it should cost lesser to run too with energy harnessing tech advancing.
Your personal roller coaster
Imagine you’re on your on the road that’s part of a World Rally Stage. You could program your car with the driving inputs of Sebastian Loeb or Walter Rohl on that stage. And your car will move in the same way it would if they were behind the wheel. And if there’s any traffic, it would simply act like any adaptive cruise control system, and once you overtake the traffic, resume the spirited drive. Sounds like science fiction, but so was video calls back in the late 90’s. This could be closer than you think. Imagine a lap of Suzuka with Senna’s inputs on an EV hypercar……
While these may look like works of a fiction writer, its all based on plausible evolution of exisiting tech. In the past decade alone we had gone from rudimentary touchscreen to making movies from just our phones. Imagine what kind of tech there is in store for us 15-20 years in the future.