Autos will soon change daily life as much as smartphones have
Industry’s high-tech push driving creation of vehicles in years ahead
The automobile redefined life in the 20th century, but the vehicle of the future will likely embed itself even deeper into our daily lives.
Electric, connected and increasingly autonomous, the future car is following a similar developmental path to the smartphone in its evolution into a powerful, rolling computer gathering information and changing forever how we do things.
“The computer platform that’s become the standard has migrated from the PC to the smartphone and now the compute platform that’s really driving research and development in the tech companies is automotive,” said Chris Borroni-bird, a Detroit-area independent mobility consultant.
“If you can solve the platform requirements for an autonomous vehicle, it means you can address many other markets.
“Other industries feel, if it’s good enough for a car, it’s good enough for us because a car is so robust.”
Borroni-bird has spent 25-plus years in the automotive/mobility sector working on future mobility concepts.
He’s been chief engineer (futures programs) for Waymo, a research scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s media lab, director of Advanced Technology Vehicle Concepts for General Motors and led fuel-cell development research for Chrysler, now FCA.
He’s co-authored Reinventing the Automobile: Personal Urban Mobility for the 21st Century with colleagues from MIT and oversaw Qualcomm’s research into car-tocar communication and wireless charging.
“The scale of change is unprecedented in the auto industry right now,” said Borroni-bird, who holds more than 40 patents for his work and is a member of the Automotive Hall of Fame.
“You’ve got these huge disruptions going on in terms of autonomy, connectivity, electrification and shared mobility.
“If you’re running a car company or are a supplier, you’re making a lot of decisions with a lot of uncertainty.”
The automotive industry has also slammed the pedal to the metal with the pace of change.
Jim Lyijnen, FCA’S director of advanced concepts engineering, said the industry is moving forward as quickly as technology can take it.
“The last decade has (seen the most change in my nearly 30-year career) and I expect the next decade will be even greater,” Lyijnen said.
“It’s a challenging time for all industries as technology continues to grow exponentially.”
But just exactly where will all this unprecedented change take us?
“The car of the future will be an evolutionary not a revolutionary change from what we have now,” said Peter Frise, director of the University of Windsor’s Centre for Automotive Research and Education. “I don’t think it’s going to fly.
“I think it’ll have four wheels, not three or two.
“The cars of the future will be more efficient (electric) and have less environmental impact. It will be connected. It’ll help the driver be safe and it’ll talk to the environment and other cars to make the whole ecosystem aware of that vehicle and its actions.”
The dawn of the electric car era is upon us with automakers expected to launch about 120 electric models in the next three to five years.
The new propulsion system, which may eventually see four small wheel motors rather than one large one, frees up space in the car’s chassis.
The lithium-ion battery will power the vehicle in the shortterm, but over time the energy source could evolve to include hydrogen fuel cells and in some cases solar power.
With an electric motor, there’s virtually no transmission, no exhaust system, no lubricating or extensive cooling systems and, if wheel motors are introduced, separate braking systems could eventually disappear, too.
The wheels on vehicles could also move forward or backward to improve manoeuvrability, while the passenger compartment space will expand even as the overall footprint of the vehicle shrinks.
Michael Robinet, executive director of IHS Markit’s Automotive Advisory Services, said the addition of autonomous driver assistance systems and car-to-car communications will make collisions unlikely. That will allow safety regulations to be altered and bulky equipment reduced.
“Everything is up for grabs then,” Robinet said.
“You can change seating configurations. You can change the glass.
“Why do you need to see out if a camera can project the image on a screen inside?
“The public needs to understand the industry is thinking about all these things and more.”
Robinet said variable-seating configurations would allow for pop-up tables for business meetings or entertainment options.
Also expected to disappear are centre consoles with gearshifts in favour of buttons and knobs. Large touchscreens will anchor your digitalized dashboard.
Carmakers are also going greener with materials.
California-based Fisker Inc. announced this month its new electric Ocean crossover, scheduled for production in 2021, will have a vegan interior.
It will use recycled nylon from
fishing lines pulled from the ocean, an eco-suede material made of recycled polyester and other plastics and repurposed rubber in tires produced from the waste of tire manufacturing.
Consumers will have a completely customized experience inside the car’s cockpit.
Seat position, climate control, lighting, navigation and entertainment will all fit the registered user’s preferences.
Expect more cinematic-style lighting to make reading digital screens inside easier while illuminated door handles and logos become more common.
Without a traditional engine, battery and powertrain, car floors will flatten out.
“The inside of the vehicle is all about real estate,” Robinet said.
For those who can’t imagine such futuristic concepts, Borroni-bird said look to the Tesla Model 3.
“It’s the closest to the traditional car of the future,” Borroni-bird said.
“It’s purpose-built around the electric architecture.”
It receives over-the-air updates and has sensors baked in for higher-level autonomous driving.
“To me, that’s the most sophisticated vehicle in existence in the world today,” Borroni-bird said.
The automobile has long held a special place in the hearts of consumers as a utilitarian product, but also a fashion accessory that says much about the owner. That romance seems to be withering with younger generations, who value cars more for their technological prowess.
“The car companies are staying very much in tune (with consumers’ technological demands),” said Shelley Fellows, chair of Automate Canada.
“That’s what’s going to set the successful vehicle manufacturers aside from the unsuccessful manufacturers.
“The car of the future, what we see in the exterior, is much like the case on our phone. It holds an incredible amount of computing power under that shell.
“That’s the way younger generations view the car.”