Car Technologies of the Future

The recent anniversary of Back to the Future had everybody talking about the future of technology.

Hoverboards are slowly becoming a reality with numerous prototypes currently being developed by various companies, but what about the cars?

Back to the Future 2, which takes place in 2015, presented us with a world that’s far from reality.

As seen in the second instalment of the beloved trilogy, the future that people imagined back in the 1980’s was very different from the future that we actually got, but how close are we actually to making that future a reality?

It’s nearly 2016 but our skies remain car-less. Perhaps flying cars will not become a thing any time soon but we can always dream that one day we’ll be able to sit behind the wheel of our very own flying vehicle.

Let’s take a look at some future car technologies that are currently in development and will soon become a reality.

Vehicle-to-Vehicle Communications (V2V)

Is it possible for two cars to communicate with each other? And no, we’re not talking about the Transformers coming to life.

As we speak a brand new technology is being developed, one in which the U.S. government is seriously interested. It would allow vehicles to communicate with cars and objects about them by sending out a signal that could be picked up and emitted by other vehicles.

A technology like this could greatly improve road safety and prevent serious accidents from happening.

Imagine this: You’re driving down the road where all of the sudden a crazed, drunk driver comes at you out of nowhere, leaving you with no alternative but to sit there and accept your fate. What if both your cars were equipped with the V2V technology. Both cars would instantly come to a stop, potentially saving your lives.

Perhaps it isn’t one of the most exciting technologies but it could potentially save lives.

So when can we expect V2V technology to become available to the public?

U.S. regulators are very close to approving the technology for the U.S. market and officials are planning for the technology to become mandatory in 2017. 

External Airbags That Stop Cars

Regular airbags have been around for a while now and we are all familiar with their purpose. We don’t really think about them that much but they have saved many lives over the years.

So what exactly can be done to improve them?

Mercedes is currently experimenting with airbags that would deploy from underneath the car. This would help vehicles stop before a crash potentially preventing serious accidents.

The airbags are part of an overall safety system that is currently being developed.

They would deploy as soon as sensors determine that an impact is inevitable.

On top of that they would lift the car up to eight centimetres, countering the car’s dipping motion during hard breaking.

Once again, it isn’t one of the most exciting technologies but it has the potential to prevent serious accidents from happening, which could greatly improve road safety.

When can we expect this technology to become available?

That isn’t clear yet. Mercedes have been working on the technology for years but it isn’t available on any of their production models yet. It could be years before we actually see this technology on our roads.

Synthetic Fuel

For years the auto industry had been looking for cheap, environmentally-friendly alternatives to fuel but how close exactly are we to finding the right solution? Apparently very close.

The German auto industry, including Volkswagen, is currently looking into developing a synthetic fuel made by solid-to-liquid or gas-to-liquid processes.

Another thing in development is ethanol produced from cellulose (wood, straw and other waste materials).

If successful, synthetic fuel could revolutionise the way we power cars. Not only would it be cheaper but it could also be way more environmentally-friendly than anything available on the market at the moment.

This could change the way we use cars and impact the way new cars are developed.

It could also open a lot of new doors for other technologies that simply aren’t possible at the moment.

But when can we expect synthetic fuels to become widely available? According to experts it could be a while. Most believe however that synthetic fuel should see the light of day in the next 20 years.

Augmented Reality Dashboards

Satnavs are one of the most popular gadgets among car users at the moment.

Most people have them and rely on them to get around but what does the future hold for these popular devices?

According to numerous experts augmented reality dashboards could soon become a reality.

Various mobile games already use this technology so at this point it is all about modifying it to work with vehicles.

Imagine not having to use an external device and having all the relevant information right in front of you, overlaying on top what you are seeing in real life.

It sounds like something out of a science fiction film but if the experts are correct this technology will become reality in the very near future. We are talking 5 to 10 years.

These dashboards could make navigating your vehicle much easier and combined with some of the other technologies we have gone over before, they could change the way we use vehicles.

Which technologies are you most excited about?

Maybe they’re not as exciting as what we are used to seeing in films like Back to the Future but still…

Car technologies are changing and in the next 10 to 20 years the auto industry will be completely different.

Who knows, maybe still hope for flying vehicles after all. We’ll have to wait and see but if technologies that are currently being developed become a reality, anything will be possible.