What will the car of the future look like?
Experts share their predictions
The Pittsburgh International Auto Show rolls into town this Friday promising a glistening display of modern, classic and exotic vehicles from 35 manufacturers across the globe.
In keeping with the annual show’s traditional cutting-edge vibe, we thought it would be fun to ask some industry experts to predict what types of vehicles car show visitors might be slipping behind the wheel of 10 to 20 years
from now. (Will those vehicles even have steering wheels?)
In other words, what will the car of the future look like?
Alistair Weaver, editor-inchief at the car shopping and information site Edmunds, doesn’t evision a skyful of Jetsons-like flying mini saucers. But he does expect some striking changes.
“The way we shop for cars and the cars that people buy will change more dramatically in the next 10 years than the last 100,” he said.
Plug it in
Mr. Weaver believes the industry is in the midst of an electric car revolution.
“Within five years, all of the major manufacturers will be offering a range of electric vehicles. All of them,” he said. “This year alone we’ll see Kia, Hyundai, Audi, Porsche and Mercedes all launch new electric cars.”
The move away from the ageold gasoline-powered engine will give designers more flexibility to change the way cars look.
Remove the body and seats from an electric car and what’s left is a chassis that resembles a skateboard, with a battery in the middle and a compact electric motor at the rear and/or front wheels.
“To some extent, you can put any body, any design you like on
top of that skateboard,” Mr. Weaver said. “Cars will still be built around people, but the idea that you have a box in front for the engine and then a box for people and luggage” will disappear, he predicted.
Relaxing in the car
Once self-driving technology is perfected — eliminating or greatly reducing the need for steering wheels — he sees vehicles transforming into “little pods.”
“You will end up with a car like a lounge, or your living room. Almost like an RV. People can sit there and talk to each other. Do whatever they like, really. The idea of four people all sitting forward focusing on the road kind of goes away.”
Of course that won’t happen overnight.
“I think within 10 years we
will have cars that properly drive themselves on the highway,” Mr. Weaver said.
Getting people to let go completely might take longer. “It will probably be 20 or 30 years before you can drive without ever holding a steering wheel,” he said.
The first mass-produced, self-driving cars will have to be more elegant looking than they are today in order to catch on with the public, said Brian Moody, executive editor at the car shopping site Autotrader.
Besides tubes and antennas, self-driving cars are conspicuous for their lidar navigation system — the big whirling ball on the roof.
“If it’s going to be a consumer product, people don’t want those things sticking out from the top of their cars,” he said.
The gadgetry
In the meantime, manufacturers will continue to offer new gadgetry aimed at making cars safer while humans are still behind the wheel.
Things like lane departure prevention (providing alerts or automatic corrective steering when a car drifts over lane markings); forward collision prevention (warnings or automatic braking to prevent a crash) and adaptive cruise control (keeps a constant, safe distance between a car and the vehicle ahead), which have limited availability today, will become “standard and expected,” Mr. Moody said.
Electrochromic windows — smart glass that automatically tints and untints depending on lighting conditions — also will be common, he said.
Besides new safety features, expect vehicles to increasingly adopt the latest consumer technology.
“We will be able to talk to our cars like never before,” Mr. Weaver said.
“Want to turn up the heat? Ask, and the car will turn up the temperature. Or ask it to play your favorite music.”
Also expect a new wave of sophisticated personal features.
Memory seats are just the beginning. Cars of the future will be able to learn drivers’ habits, Mr. Moody said.
“Your car will know that you like to go to Starbucks on the way to work, so it will route you there and call ahead for coffee. It will know what station you like to listen to, and select it for you. It will know there’s a blind corner on the way home, and warn you.”
Big antennas, big prices
On the downside, all that technology will require more data to power it. And that means antennas may have to get bigger again, Mr. Moody said, (potentially reviving an old problem at the automatic car wash).
In addition, fancy addons along with stepped-up government-mandated safety features will continue to drive up new vehicle prices, which already are hovering around an average of $36,000, he said.
As a result, he predicts cars will take on a more “van/wagon-like appearance” as households increasingly try to make do with one vehicle, supplemented by ride-sharing services such as Uber and Lyft.
Peer-to-peer vehicle sharing services — such as Turo and General Motors’ Maven — also could help support one-car families.
With Maven, for example, members can rent vehicles on an hourly basis or longer from GM vehicle owners who aren’t using their cars.
Buying a subscription
Mr. Weaver believes that as technology continues to advance, the trend will be for motorists to buy cars through subscription services — similar to the way people buy mobile phones today.
“Cars will become like our phones. We’ll have them for two or three years, then trade them in” for the latest model with the latest technology.
“The idea that you buy a car and run it into the ground” will fade, he said.
As for science fiction fans hoping to swoop to work in an aerocar with transparent bubble top like George Jetson, it could be awhile.
“I’m pretty cynical about flying cars,” Mr. Weaver said. “I think we need to perfect autonomous cars on the road before the sky.
“I think it’s another 50 years away, at least.”