The auto-industry is not speed oriented anymore; many restrictions have been legislated to reduce the accidents’ possibilities and environment damage, so the cars manufacturers currently are all about design and appearance.
The roads will become safer, as we remove distracted, flawed drivers (and human error) from behind the wheel. Congestion will decrease, as cars that drive themselves and communicate with each other are able to more efficiently share roadways. Fuel economy will go up as a result, and emissions will go down. We’ll need to devote less space to parking, as automated vehicles come to function more like public transit, remaining perpetually in motion. And all kinds of people who can’t currently drive – the young and old, as well as the disabled – will become more mobile.
The electric car seems to me a major future topic; much of the emerging focus is on small electric cars targeted at short-range city commuters. Audi, BMW, GM and Volkswagen all have models aimed at urbanites. Because driving in dense traffic makes high speed maneuvering wishful thinking, the extreme high speed isn’t the purpose of these cars’ designs. Instead, the goal is curb appeal. The final product could be single driver vehicles, and the suggestions of two-seaters with a passenger sitting behind the driver and designs inspired by Formula One racers are all on the table.
If electric cars are the future of the short haul, hybrids, such as the one designed by Jaguar, are destined to become the kings of the open road. The benefits of these cars are their extended range and ability to combine electric motors with fuel-sipping turbocharged V6 engines that emulate the fast-forward thrust of the large V8 engines that were once synonymous with a roadster.
Many brands were able to raise their products to meet that future prospect, among The fastest and most luxurious hybrids on the road we find Ford’s EVOS fastback, Chevrolet’s hybrid Miray sports car and Cadillac’s Ciel convertible suggest that Detroit is still capable of innovative thinking. But even the California upstart Fisker isn’t shy about acknowledging its debt to Europe. And Chrysler, leaning on its Fiat relationship, is intending to bring a Maserati Kubang SUV to U.S. shores in the near future. Detroit’s efforts and Asia’s as well, pales by comparison to European carmakers, where designers seem free to rethink the whole idea of personal automotive transportation.
