The Future of Cars
Raghu Yadav
| 07-06-2024
· Vehicle Team
In 2016, countries such as Norway, the Netherlands, France, and the United Kingdom successively proposed timetables to ban the sale of traditional combustion engine vehicles.
Companies like Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Toyota, and Volkswagen simultaneously announced their transition to new energy vehicles. Therefore, it can be said that the future of automobiles lies in electric vehicles.
Since the beginning of the 21st century, Level 2 autonomous driving assistance technology and semi-autonomous driving technology have been widely applied and have become important means to enhance the grade and competitiveness of automobiles. Volvo was the first to mass-produce the first Level 3 autonomous driving technology - the congestion assistance system.
In addition, companies such as Audi, Cadillac, Nissan, and Toyota plan to introduce vehicles with more intelligent and higher-level features such as automatic steering, acceleration and deceleration, lane guidance, and automatic parking. Therefore, the future of automobiles should be highly autonomous.
The development of in-car infotainment systems has a long history. With the increasing demand for information, entertainment, and safety in recent years, in-car infotainment systems will gradually become a comprehensive platform integrating functions such as in-car DVD, rearview cameras, and intelligent connectivity through projection modes, multimedia, WIFI, Bluetooth, automatic parking, etc.
From small screens to multi-screen setups, from buttons to touchscreens, and unidirectional reception to human-machine interaction, the future of automobiles should have intelligent cockpit layouts.
In recent years, manufacturers have been striving to improve performance and efficiency by reducing roadside weight to increase the power-to-weight ratio. Others focus on lower, wider, and longer body shapes to improve aerodynamics, interior space, and visual appeal.
Emphasizing these three aspects in car design, a wide, low, and light body has been designed to enhance performance, comfort, and efficiency. The broad shape improves interior space, the lower seating height enhances aerodynamic performance, and the emphasis on lightweight structures improves the power and efficiency of the transmission system.
These focuses are not something new; they represent a growth trend in automotive design. As early as the design of the Cadillac ATS sports car in 2015, they strongly emphasized the design focus of "long, low, light."
In April 2017, Stanford University economist Tony Seba released a report predicting that the next few years would be a tipping point for electric vehicles. From a cost curve, by 2025, all new vehicles will be electric, and anything that moves on wheels will be electric with costs one-tenth of those of mechanical fuel engines.
The British magazine The Economist also published an article stating that electrification has thrown the automotive industry into turmoil, and electric drive systems, autonomous driving systems, and shared services will replace most privately owned vehicles with a "transportation-as-a-service" model.
As systems are updated iteratively and technology continues to improve, interactions between intelligent cockpits and humans will become more and more frequent. One day soon, you will be able to drive a car and enjoy the convenience and comfort brought by intelligent cockpits.