The Coolest Car Tech Features We Can’t Wait To Try
Each year automakers trot out their latest and greatest technology, and each year consumers benefit from the one-upmanship amongst them. Often it’ll start with BMW, Mercedes-Benz, and Audi and then trickle down until the most basic Subaru Impreza has it. Here are some of the coolest features we can’t wait to be released and that we can’t wait to trickle down to the sorts of cars we can afford.
GPS for Transmissions
Just like adaptive cruise control, we’re thinking transmissions augmented by a global positioning satellite, which started on the most expensive vehicles, such as the Rolls-Royce Ghost and new BMW 7 Series, will trickle down. But not too far. The novel idea currently allows the big luxury sedans to anticipate a downshift when cornering or climbing a hill so they can perform the gear change ahead of time and thus be in the correct gear for the change in the road.
GPS/Cameras/Sensors for Suspensions
Initially only a plaything of the uber-rich, using technology to smooth a vehicle’s ride has now begun to trickle down to the merely filthy rich. Both the Mercedes-Benz S-Class and BMW 7 Series offer systems that use a combination of forward-looking sensors to anticipate bumps, allowing the suspension to adjust accordingly and essentially erase imperfections from the occupants’ experience. GPS information allows the system to anticipate curves in the road, firming up the proper side of the vehicle to erase any sense of body roll.
GPS for Headlights
Adding GPS technology to headlights seems like overkill, but in reality it’s taking the idea of adaptive headlights (the kind that swivel to illuminate curves) to the next level. Instead of waiting for you to initiate the turn and relying on your steering inputs to know how much to angle the lights, the system can pre-emptively begin to light your path, making for even safer nighttime motoring. The system pictured (on the Mercedes CLS-Class) detects lane markings.
Turbo Tech
When Ferrari added turbochargers to the new 488 GTB and when finding a Ford F-150 with the highest towing capacity meant looking at a turbocharged V-6, we realized that the age of the turbocharger was upon us. In just a few years we’ve seen advances in turbocharging from placing them in the hot V of the engine, such as the Mercedes-AMG GT S, or by integrating a twin-scroll design that allows them to get up to speed even quicker. These advances are narrowing the gap in responsiveness for turbochargers versus the naturally aspirated engines they have replaced, helping assuage the longing for the old way.
Turbo Tech: Just add Electricity
When companies began trying to reduce lag, as has been the goal for a few years, one solution utilized two separate turbochargers, one small and one large, to get the advantages of both (less lag and more top-end power). We’ve started to see vehicles with electric turbochargers (superchargers by another name?) that use an electric motor to fill in the blanks that result from using a larger turbo. Instant torque from the electric motors and batteries that can be charged via regenerative braking make electric turbochargers one of the ideal power adders for future engines. We’ve even heard that unlike the dual turbo setup, some vehicles (Audi RS 4, RS 5) could be moving to a V-6 with electric turbo chargers only. Put that in your e-cig and smoke it.
Infotainment That’s Actually Smart
With smartphones, smart watches, and smart thermostats, isn’t it about time our cars got more intelligent? Google’s Android Auto and Apple’s CarPlay point the way to the future with competent voice recognition, responsive interfaces, and seamless smartphone integration. Hyundai and Kia are leading the way here and will offer Android Auto first, with CarPlay rolling out soon after. We hope that by raising the bar, the rest of the market will follow suit and bring out systems that don’t remind us of registering for college classes with a touch-tone telephone.
Smartphone Key
Ever heard of near field communication? It’s NFC for short, and it’s starting to make its way into more cellphones. It’s the same technology that allows you to tap some credit cards for payment instead of the usual swipe. Mercedes-Benz is toying with the idea of using the NFC chip built into your phone to replace the key for the next E-Class. The authorization system would be transferred and encrypted on the phone and would be used in lieu of a key. All the more reason not to lose your phone.
Remote Pilot
Remote piloting of your vehicle has a number of theoretical uses, such as getting into a narrow parking spot or squeezing your car into a packed garage. We imagine it won’t be the most expensive RC car you’ve ever owned — more like a useful tool in a narrow set of circumstances. When such a feat is able to clear legal hurdles here in the United States, we’re sure to see them proliferate quickly through the full-size luxury segment. The European BMW 7 Series already features a system with the ability to pull into and out of a parking space, but only straight forward and reverse.
Car-to-Car Communication, Mercedes Style
The Mercedes-Benz take on car-to-car communication ends up being more car-to-cloud communication. Multiple vehicles feed information into the cloud, where it can be retrieved by another vehicle when needed. If a car is broken down around a bend, that car can send out a signal that will warn other approaching drivers via the cloud. The same can be done with hazards such as black ice on the road. The system leverages the onboard cellular connection so it doesn’t dip into your cellular data.
Car-to-Car Communication, Continental Style
The technology is called Continental Dynamic eHorizon, and it is a collaboration between Continental, IBM, and the location cloud company HERE that aims to improve safety, efficiency, comfort, and navigation. The Dynamic eHorizon informs the driver and onboard safety systems of weather and traffic problems that lie too far ahead to be visible. By analyzing topographical and speed-limit data, the system also helps optimize energy use in hybrid and smart-charging conventional vehicles. This feature alone, deployed on conventional Scania heavy trucks since 2012, has reportedly returned a 3 percent reduction in fuel consumption.
Piloted Driving
Piloted driving is close. Really close. Sure, Tesla rolled out autopilot, but we’re waiting for the day when we can mosey over to the freeway, engage the piloted driving system, luxuriate, and then be inoffensively requested to resume control as our freeway exit approaches. That’ll be the day. And that day is coming soon with nearly every automaker promising such a system in the ballpark of 2020, give or take a few years.
Inductive Charging
You’ve seen it at Starbucks, and it’s the future for electric vehicles: inductive charging. No wires needed, just an adapter. Position your device or car over the right spot, and voila! Electricity flows, recharging your car without having to plug in. To call it convenient is a bit of an understatement. Combine inductive charging with mild autonomy or remote pilot capabilities for EVs without the hassle. Tesla has already suggested the idea of a car that could drop you at the door, drive itself to your parking spot, recharge, and then pick you up at the end of the day with the cabin pre-conditioned to the perfect temperature.
Adaptive Headlights
Although the idea of mechanically turning a light beam to follow curves in the road has been around since the 1950s (the Tucker Sedan had a centrally mounted third headlight that swiveled when the steering wheel was turned), microprocessors and LEDs have taken things up a notch. LED headlights from Audi can bend around corners to illuminate curves and can selectively disable certain zones to keep from dazzling oncoming drivers. Prototype systems can even deactivate light beams around falling raindrops, increasing light throughput significantly.
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