A car that does all the talking and helps the driver get out of the jam using artificial intelligence. A car that drives itself. And a car that suggests fuel-saving routes. A few years ago, cars like these were a work of fiction. They were usually confined to movies and books and were a part of car lovers’ fantasies. But today, we are close to these probabilities. In fact, we live them. The quest to offer vehicles that are much more efficient, faster and safer has pushed car manufacturers to design cars having Avant-Garde designs.
Today, we will be talking about Automotive Technologies of 2020 and beyond. We will be acquainting you with what technologies are being tested, the ones that are doing fairly well and the ones that are proving to be highly successful. Time to sit back and enjoy the drive!
Self-driving Cars
According to a survey conducted by INRIX in the year 2018, German drivers spend an average of 120 hours of their years in traffic. Now, imagine the number of unpaid hours it adds to the workday of an average German worker. Self-driving cars are a great way to combat this issue.
Google engineers have already tested self-driving cars that can travel up to 200,000 miles on freeways. These cars can capture/record the image of roads and road signs enabling drivers to find alternative routes and predict traffic stops while driving. With the help of cameras, radars, and lasers, these cars can analyze information from their surroundings. Which means, the cars can suggest drivers with fuel and time-saving routes. Brace yourselves as these cars hit the road and make transformation safer, not just faster and time-saving.
Connected Cars
Experts in the field of the automotive IT services industry are already researching cars that can communicate with other cars and the objects around them. Let’s say you are about to reach an intersection when another car runs a red light. Now, you might not have foreseen this, but your car receives a signal from the other car and warns you about the potential collision. As soon as you give a ‘go-ahead’, it applies brakes and comes to a halt. Wouldn’t this be a great way to avoid accidents? Think about it.
Automotive giants like Ford are implementing technologies like V2V – vehicle-to-vehicle communication as it drastically lessens the occurrence of accidents on roads. It sends wireless signals to the cars hindering each other about their speed, location, and the direction they are heading to, keeping potential accidents at bay. According to Green Car Congress, V2V has the potential to reduce 79% of vehicle crashes.
Augmented Reality Dashboards
Let’s go back to the science fiction movie – Terminator. A robot looks at the person or an object and it gets all the information and identification details about them. Augmented Reality Dashboards, also known as AR dashboards wouldn’t work any differently. BMW has already made cards with a windshield display that shows basic information. They are also in the process of crafting AR dashboards that can recognize objects that come in contact with the car and display information about them on the windshield.
The GPS aligned with the AR dashboard will also give drivers an indication of which lane they need to be in so that they do not meet with an accident. A more fascinating invention by BMW includes augmented reality for automotive IT service providers. Recently, they released a video that shows how a BMW technician makes use of AR glasses to look into the engine and the parts that need to be replaced. Thereafter, he gives instructions to fix the problems. Although Augmented Reality has not made its presence felt in a full-fledged way, the automotive giants are sure to have their way. So, keep your fingers crossed.
Hybrid Cars
According to Exxon Mobil – an American multinational oil and gas corporation, half of all the new cars to be produced by 2040 will be hybrid. This would work well for the environment and creating a sustainable planet for the future. But with hybrid cars, the problem is that they occupy a lot of space and are quite heavy. This is when energy-storing body panels come of help.
Nine auto manufacturers based in Europe are currently working on creating body panels that charge and store energy faster as compared to conventional batteries. These panels would help reduce cars’ weight by 15% and would encapsulate the energy while the car is plugged in overnight. When there arises a need, it feeds the stored energy back to the car. This phenomenon would not only lessen the size of hybrid batteries but also get rid of the energy wasted in moving the weight from the batteries.
Solar cars too are a part of this league. Lightyear One, a car with solar panels will be launched in the market in the year 2021. It was founded by a group of former University of Eindhoven students who were the winners of the World Solar Challenge race. These cars have the potential to generate more power from their solar panels than they would usually consume. Which means, your journey would end with a more charged battery than what your car had before you started the journey.
Blackest of the Black
BMW’s X6 Vantablack, also known as the “Blackest of the Black” comes in a color so dark that anything that is covered in it seems to disappear. The company named Surrey Nanosystems has used a coating technology joined hands with BMW to find out what a car looks like when it is painted with Vantablack. The VBx2 version of the car absorbs 99% of light as compared to the original one. In September, BMW will display the car at the Frankfurt Motor Show. And for the information of car buyers, it would cost an arm and a leg!
Concluding…
Automotive IT Services consist of powerful, comprehensive, flexible and truly cost-effective solutions for leasing, fleet, rental and insurance services. The experts at AutoFacets have been passionate about modern innovations in the automotive industry. Stay tuned with us for more news, views, and information on such fascinating automotive technologies! Do share your thoughts with us on info@autofacets.com. We would love to hear from you!
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