Motoring | Features

The ride of the future

What’s in store for the cars of the future? Nothing involving wings, propellers or invisible protective force fields, alas. But the lab boffins have clearly been busy. Here’s what we can expect.

Chris Anderson, alpha. magazine
Published: 12:06 August 6, 2012

Image Credit: Supplied picture
BMW’s i8 Spyder. A battery powered car with serious acceleration.

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Electric cars

People have criticised electric cars so far by saying they aren’t fast enough, don’t have the range, and there simply aren’t enough charging points. BMW has ignored all of that and designed one that will easily become popular just because of how good it looks.

The i8 Spyder Concept is a taste of what could be, with a foldaway roof, swan doors and a lightweight carbon shell. That should sort the speed issues, while the clever management system gets better range and performance from the lithium-ion battery than the norm. The result is 0-99 in five seconds and a top speed of 249kph.

Point and move

Mercedes-Benz has taken a leap into the future with a system that appears to be straight out of the script of Minority Report or Iron Man. Its Dynamic and Intuitive Control Experience (DICE) projects information on to the windscreen thanks to an augmented reality interface – which hopefully isn’t too much of a distraction for the driver.

It also uses motion sensors to detect hand movements, so the driver can point at a passing building to receive information about it. For example, with an art gallery, it might tell you its name and opening times. If it’s a restaurant, you might be able to peruse the menu or even make a booking.

This system is said to control social media, entertainment and vehicle diagnostics in the same way. Think about it, you’ll be able to update your facebook status in a traffic jam - while keeping your eyes on the road, of course.

Self-driven cars

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Web giant Google has been working on a driverless car for a while – fitting a fleet of vehicles in the States with video cameras, radar sensors, lasers, GPS and an onboard database. The result is a car that can detect the traffic around it, and will be aware of its location at all times – there are many applications, from taxis to assisting the visually impaired.

Nevada became the first state in the US to legalise these self-driven cars recently, and California could be next. Its state senator, Alan Lowenthal, quipped modestly, “There are still some issues, but it’s a better driver than I am.”

Future navigation

Korean car manufacturer Kia has figured out that if you fit a car with navigation and GPS, you might be able to get even more out of it than simply finding your way on the road. The brand’s latest Uvo system, built in conjunction with Microsoft and unveiled recently, can liaise with your smartphone to direct you back to your car if you forget where you parked it, or it can call the emergency services and ping them your location in one hit at the push of a button. It can also transfer directions from your smartphone that you’ve worked out using Google Maps.

Lighter load

Making cars lighter is one way that manufacturers can get more mileage out of their vehicles, so they are turning to carbon fibre, the ultra-light, super-tough material found in aeroplanes and modern tennis rackets. Lightweight carbon fibre pieces will be featured on many upscale vehicles, like BMW’s forthcoming line of electric cars, which will hit the road in 2013. Although manufacturing the material is costly now, prices will come down as advances in manufacturing are made. Using carbon fibre to reduce a vehicle’s weight could improve fuel economy by as much as 7 per cent.

Communicative cars

Ford, ever the innovator, is currently developing an intelligent vehicle system that uses Wi-Fi technology to transmit your car’s location and recognise vehicles in its vicinity. The system will warn you of any oncoming traffic when, for example, you want to pass a large lorry that is obstructing your view on a narrow road, or tell you when a vehicle several cars ahead has stopped abruptly. It’s unlikely this technology will be available for at least another five years, and it’ll be much longer than that before it is standard.

Out now

Touchscreen movies

Pioneer AVH-4450BT, Dh1,677
This new unit from Pioneer has a DVD player hidden behind its motorised 7-inch touchscreen, which means that after your fingers have finished darting all over the front panel, tweaking the various functions, you can watch a movie from the comfort of your car seat.

Add-on navigation

Garmin Nuvi-3490, Dh1,599
If you’re looking for a simple add-on that will help you get navigation into the car, this latest from Garmin could be the way to go. Light in weight and with a 4.3 inch screen, the Nuvi-3490 is even slimmer than an iPhone 4 and all of its features are touchactivated.

The whole caboodle

Kenwood DNX7380BT, Dh5,899
Kenwood has come up with a unit that has a big, bold and colourful touch screen display, DVD and CD playback, iPod/iPhone control, and it has somehow managed to squeeze a navigation system in there too. With 18 language variations, it’s perfect for a multi-cultural environment like the UAE.