Right from the day when wheels were born, the humankind has been looking for ways to go faster on the roads. Auto technology has been up to the task with mammoth engines that generate whopping power to burn rubber on the roads at unanticipated speed. The future looks promising too with future cars assuring to come with all sorts of unique capabilities from powering themselves to featuring technologies that can ensure accident-free highways. Apart from being fast and furious, these cars are also expected to be eco friendly. Here we look at a few such technologies that will transform the highways of today by being a part of future cars.
Shape Shifting Cars:
Anybody who has a routine to get stuck in traffic jams, knows that if their rides somehow had the capability to shift shape, they would be able to reach office on time. Current cars don’t have such capabilities and all we can do is just honk. However, the future looks different and better, with designers conceptualizing vehicles that can alter their shape to suit traffic and parking needs. Famous car designer Rinspeed debuted such a concept in the form of its solar-powered iChange, which can change its shape and size to suit your requirements.
Self Powered Cars:
Currently we have to rush to the gas station after driving our car for a few hundred miles. Though, it’s easy to refill our vehicles with liquid fuel and get ready for the next part of the journey, the rising cost of fuel and for the cause of the environment, gas-powered rides need a change. Some auto designers are showing us a world where cars will be powered by such sources of energy that are surrounding us, in the form of wind and sunlight. These self-powered cars not only stop your commutes to the nearest gas station, but also stop the emissions of harmful greenhouses gases from the tail pipe. These future cars are based on technologies that somehow manage to harvest energy from renewable sources such as wind and sunlight to produce electricity that runs electric motors, which in some cases are embedded inside the wheel itself.
Self Driving Cars:
I don’t think there will be many people out there who really want to drive back home after a hectic day at work. All we need is a chauffeur, who drives the car while we relax a bit. Though, a chauffeur is and will be a dream for those who’re on a budget, we can always take technology’s help. Auto designers have long been promising us a world where cars of the future will be driven by computers and all we have to do is to press a button pointing to our next destination. One of the first prototype of a self-driving car came from the house of Google, which recently got a license to operate a self-driving car in the US. The success of the project, ensures that we’re very near to the time when cars will be driven not by humans but by computers.
Cars that prevent accidents:
While self-driving cars are imminent, another exceptionally human-friendly technology is coming in the form of vehicles that prevent accidents. These cars run technology that somehow manages to monitor the driver of the car and the road ahead at all times. If the driver seems to be too tired or is about to go to sleep, the driver is initially alerted by the embedded technology and if that doesn’t help the technology can do anything from applying the brakes to taking full control over the car. Such technology can also monitor the road conditions ahead and if the car is heading for an accident, it can stop the car or take control over it so that the accident is averted.
Cars that maintain themselves:
Nobody likes scratches and dents on their much loved vehicles. But considering the traffic conditions, all we can do after a bump is just stop the car for a moment, and play blame game with the other driver. Such things are about to end soon as researchers have been able to develop materials that can heal on their own. Such materials are based on advanced polymers making use of the best in nano-technology. Such materials can be included in body paint of the vehicle so that any scratches are filled up instantly without taking the car to a workshop. Moreover, these cars will be able to gather information about the various parts of the car and ensure that nothing is scratched.
