Andrew Milewski
Important Technologies Car manufacturers are Pioneering
I have been looking for a new car lately and was researching safety ratings of a number of cars that I liked. I have also been looking at the latest technologies used in cars and all I can say is that technology in cars has come a LONG way since I last bought one.
Movies were the one and only place where fantasies could
thrive. We used to see flying cars, self driving cars, cars which dodge head-on
collisions and so on. However that was the past. With innovations and progress
in modern technologies, these fantasies may actually turn into realities.
Car manufacturers are constantly looking for ways to improve
upon their cars, in all aspects. Research has been undertaken in different
fields but not without success. Read on below to learn of some technologies
which will quite soon become a part of the norm rather than exception.
First off comes the need for innovation. Taking an economic
point of view, there is an acute scarcity of resources. This can be seen in the
form of soaring prices in an effort to curb consumption altogether. Herein lay
the needs for alternate fuels. Electric cars have helped to make the shift from
fossil fuels altogether. Electric cars are similar to hybrid (Toyata Prius,
etc) cars but the difference is that they run purely on electricity with no combustion
engine at all. Zero emissions and easy electrical ‘wall socket’ style charging
come standard with these vehicles.
Safety is essential. Automakers have explored several
avenues in this aspect. Their efforts have not been in vain. Take the concept
of ‘collision avoidance’ technology. Your car, equipped with sensors and
computers operating in real time, will automatically stop just short of a
possible accident. The technology is in its infancy but the applications for
this are boundless. Many production cars already do come equipped with
different versions of this feature; depending from manufacturer to
manufacturer.
Reworking the formula which determines which materials will
be used on a vehicle’s body can also bring drastically varied results. Carbon
fibre is a lightweight yet strong material seeing use not only in high
performance applications but also as an enhancement for safety features. CFRP (or
reinforced carbon fibre) will render a car lighter than standard versions as
well as safer, since less weight can reduce damage dealt during impact.
Smart alert technologies are also emerging. These include
breath analysers which check intoxication levels, road detectors which ‘sense’
and alert when a car is deviating from its driving lane and so on. Although
currently too expensive to use for mass production; one can expect toned down
versions to surface on the market soon.
These technologies define the modern car for the coming
generations. Combining these different technologies together can indeed provide
a potent mix for what may be a much smarter and safer car.
