n 1956, GM released a video entitled, Keys to the Future, that boldly predicted driverless cars in 1976. Although it is nearly 40 years later, driverless cars are being tested and will soon be disrupting the auto industry and transforming our society as we know it. While GM made this bold prediction of the future of cars, it was not until the tech world branched out, created the Internet of Things that they became involved with car manufacturers. In creating Smart Cars, the GM vision will soon become a a reality.
Tech companies pairing up with car companies
While Google has spent the past year openly working with Lexus in creating an autonomous car, other tech companies have also been working with car manufacturers. For example, Swedish tech giant Ericsson has been working with Volvo on their award winning innovation. By using integrated cloud based applications for navigation and music streaming, they are already taking their cutting edge technology and incorporating it into Volvo cars. There is a lot of speculation that Apple is getting into the Smart Car market, yet the rumors of pairing up with BMW have been unfounded. Until Apple partners up, their apps will be used but they will not be in the Smart Car market.
Cost of owning a car
Currently, Smart Car technology, led by tech companies, is infiltrating the latest vehicles. Eventually, these driverless cars will change what we pay for a vehicle. The early driverless cars will be a bit like a taxi service or car sharing. There will be an app on your Smartphone to call for transportation. Responding to that app will be fleets providing mobility services for anyone who needs to go from point A to point B. Those who own their own vehicle, and not use the self driving option, will possibly have different online insurance quotes than those who are driving the Smart Car.
Car design
As the function and user experience of vehicles will be changing and evolving, technology will influence the design of Smart Cars and this will continue to evolve. As passengers will be traversing in Smart Cities, the need for a vehicle that moves at high speeds will be diminished. Thus, the design of vehicles will reflect the need for shorter, slower city journeys. Electric driving cars will be essential to creating a driverless city. In addition, with the advancements of Graphene and other materials that could make vehicles lighter. Most of all, fuel types could potential change with Smart Cars.
Parking
How tech companies upgrade self-parking functions will determine the ease in which the Smart Car will park. As sensor data improves, parking will be faster and smoother.
Safety
As utopian as driverless cars may seem, this technology has quickly evolved, and is estimated to be available to everyone in the next three to five years. Perhaps the biggest anticipation is how safe driverless cars have become. After millions of miles of testing, the only driverless car accidents that have occurred when vehicles, driven by humans, have run into the driverless cars and caused the crash. Because there will no longer be drivers, only passengers, this will take away the bad decisions, the emotion, and the occasional aggression associated with driving.
In addition, some vehicle manufacturers, such as Volvo have also worked on technology that would prevent accidents between cars and bicycles. Not only will automobile to automobile crashes be eliminated, but automobile to bicycle vehicles will be eliminated.
Environment
With less vehicles crowding the road, and as technology companies transform the design of vehicles that will be lighter and more capable of using alternate, cleaner energy, this will improve air quality. In fact, Google Smart Cars have been quietly testing the environment by using air quality detectors in some of the Smart Cars.
With fewer vehicles crowding the road, and as the design of vehicles will be lighter and more capable of using alternate, cleaner energy, this will improve air quality. Most of all, these types of fuel could potential change with vehicles as well. Electric driving cars could be essential to creating a driverless city, but other clean technologies may become more practical.
Soon, your car will be connected to everything with sensors. Drivers will relax as the car safely drives them to their destination. We have tech companies to thank for this. They give automobile manufacturers the ability to realize their dreams.
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