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Show Fall CAR CARE, 2011 Page 14 What will your car look like in 10 years? Still waiting for that flux capacitor? You may not be going "Back to the Future" any time soon, but greener cars that check e-mail, change color with the flip of a switch and prevent drivers from running red lights are on the horizon. "It's going to be wild. The next ten years should be quite interesting," said Karl Brauer, editor-in-chief at Edmunds.com . SAFER CARS In the next 10 years, safety systems will get smart -- very smart. "One thing we know for sure -- cars will keep getting smarter and more capable of countering driver error, coinciding with greater connectivity," Brauer said. Lane departure warnings, rearview backup cameras and collision avoidance technology are already on the scene. The 2010 Mercedes-Benz E-Class, for example, features high-tech alerts to counter driver drowsiness and a crash avoidance system that automatically engages the brakes to avoid imminent collisions. Future versions will rely on GPS and internal "smart" computers to keep drivers out of harm's way. "Your car will have an awareness of its surroundings," Brauer explained. "Your car will not only know where it is on the planet, it will know where all the other cars are around it and be able to talk to those cars." Vehicles of the future will automatically reroute themselves to avoid accidents, steer clear of emergency vehicles and even prevent drivers from breaking the law. "In theory, we might never have a car run a red light -- the car won't let you go through a red light. It will stop itself," Brauer said. SMARTER CARS In the coming years, GPS navigation systems will be as standard as CD players, but they'll do way more than plot your route. "Cars are becoming mobile offices. With the increasing amount of traffic in modern cities and the average commute getting longer and longer, it's becoming more desirable to be productive in the car," Brauer explained. Imagine locating the cheapest gas in town, booking a hotel room and checking e-mail all from behind the wheel, just by saying the word. Voicerecognition software might even let drivers dictate responses. Your car will likely connect with everything from your home -- pull into the driveway and the lights automatically turn on -- to the service station. Pull in for your regular oil change and the mechanic may have already downloaded service records from your car's computer. "Anything you can think of that you can do from your house with an Internet connection, you will be able to do from within your car," Brauer said. GREENER CARS Today's greenest vehicles will soon be a thing of the past. In the quest for ever-better gas mileage and lower emissions, electric/ diesel hybrids look very promising. "A diesel hybrid makes absolute sense," Bauer said. "Electric motors are good at low speeds, whereas diesel engines are great in highway situations. They can hold a high speed with minimal gas usage. It's the best of both worlds." Volkswagen has been toying with the idea for years -- recent reports point to a full diesel hybrid Golf that gets 70 miles per gallon. It's been dubbed the "Prius-killer." For short trips, the car will cruise through in-town traffic using no internal combustion. A regenerative braking system will help keep the nickel-metal hydride battery charged. Hit the highway and the superefficient diesel kicks in. There's no official word on when the Golf hybrid will hit the market, but expect plenty of copycats to follow. COOLER CARS From MINI Cooper to Scion, manufacturers of today's customizable cars are gaining quite a following -- and turning heads. With swap-out panels in an array of colors and dozens of choose-yourown accents like stripes, flags and insignias, these brands bank on the public's desire to express their individuality, and the trend will only continue. "Being able to personalize your car will be big," Brauer said. "To an extent, modern cars are all essentially the same. They're all comfortable, safe, dependable and well-engineered, so manufacturers look for ways to differentiate their brands." — Chandra Orr, Creators Syndicate THE FUTURE AWAITS The Scion iQ, pictured, tells of a future of cars where customizable cars will find many fans. / Creators.com photo courtesy of Scion Electric From page 7 engine begins to take over, the electric one shuts down and the batteries recharge. This results in miles per gallon numbers previously unheard of. Hybrids average around 40 to 45 mpg, with some peaking around 50 during optimal driving conditions -- typically stop-and-go driving around a city when the car would be powered entirely by electricity. Burning less fuel not only means spending less money, it also results in less exhaust fumes being released into the atmosphere. "Buying a fuel-efficient vehicle is a great way to minimize your personal carbon footprint," said Jim Kliesch, a senior engineer with the Union of Concerned Scientists. While saving money and polluting less should sound appealing to everyone, driving habits determine whether it makes sense to go hybrid. A driver that spends most of the time on the highway or long stretches of country roads wouldn't be a good candidate, since the electric motor would be off most of the time. The hybrid is a city slicker, ideal for drivers that encounter a lot of stop signs, red lights and traffic jams. Knowing that you're not burning gas when you're sitting in traffic makes an unpleasant experience a little less painful. The first hybrid that arrived on the U.S. market was the Honda Insight, a small twoseater that had limited appeal to American drivers, who love their big cars and SUVs. It wasn't until Toyota unveiled the Prius and gas prices began to rise that drivers began to take notice. Unlike the Insight, the Prius is a sedan, with four seats and a larger trunk. Now on its fourth generation, Toyota's main hybrid dominates the market. "They made the vehicle not only more fuel efficient, but slightly larger and slightly more powerful, letting the consumer have the cake and eat it too," Kliesch said. Improving technology has also made the sticker price more comparable to a traditional car, according to Brian Moody, road test editor for Edmunds.com. "The price difference used to be significant, and now that cost has come down somewhat," he said. Drivers considering a hybrid now have a larger selection to choose from. The Prius is king, but Honda still has the Insight, an inexpensive option that has recently been revamped. If driving performance is a major factor, the Toyota Camry is a step up. The electric motor is actually a little quicker, Moody said, and the switch to the gasoline engine is seamless. Lexus hybrids offer more comforts and accessories, like leather seats and a 14-speaker stereo. Even drivers that don't want to give up their SUVs have an option, with the Chevy Tahoe and Cadillac Escalade the bestknown SUV hybrids, according to Moody. They're too big to run on the electric motor only, but they offer better mileage than the traditional models. "The Tahoe can get around 20 mpg, which is pretty good for the type of car that it is," Moody said. Hybrids are an option to consider, but Moody said that it still pays to compare. "There are several out there, but make sure that the price that's paid is not significantly more than what you could get a similar car for." — Tom Roebuck, Creators.com |