Recently, car manufacturers and technology firms have been developing and demonstrating new pieces of car technology that will radically change how we drive. Not only that, they are likely to become mainstream in the car market in the near future.
Pretty soon, the sort of car tech seen in films like ‘Tomorrow Never Dies’, ‘Minority Report’ and ‘I, Robot’ will seem a lot less like science fiction and more like everyday life.
Here’s our guide to five of the best pieces of car technology that are set to change motoring in the near future.
Control cars remotely - on your smartphone
Anyone who remembers the James Bond film, 'Tomorrow Never Dies', will know that being able to control your car with just a phone is a very cool idea. Up until recently, however, it seemed that only 'Q' was smart enough to make it work. But not anymore.
Recently, Jaguar Land Rover demonstrated a working prototype of a Range Rover Sport, which can be controlled remotely via a smartphone app. With this gadget, Range Rover owners can walk alongside their car as they drive it at speeds of up to 4mph. This might be rather slow, but that's because it's intented to help with manoeuvring through tricky off-road terrain, negotiating objects hard to see from the driver's seat.
Applied to virtually any other car, this technology could turn tight and tricky parking manoeuvres into a doddle as well. Jaguar Land Rover’s remote control app is even smart enough to stop the car if it gets too close to the driver or gets further than 10 metres away from them.
Self-parking cars – with no driver
Automatic parking technology does already exist to an extent in certain mainstream cars. With some family cars, like the Ford Focus and Nissan Qashqai, you can get a gadget which uses sensors to detect where a parking space is available. When a suitable spot is found, the car then calculates its positioning and automatically steers into the space, with the driver only controlling the throttle and brakes.
Some manufacturers are working on taking this technology further, by making cars able to handle trickier parking spaces and similar manoeuvres themselves, without even needing a driver onboard.
This sort of feature has been demonstrated by the likes of Ford, Volkswagen, Audi and Volvo. With the latter company, automatic parking can be activated via a smartphone app.
The car uses ultrasonic sensors to scan an open parking space while travelling at up to 19mph. When a suitable spot is found, the driver is alerted and can choose to either stay in the car or get out while the car controls the steering, gears, accelerator and brake to fit the car in the designated spot.
Not only can such a feature save driver’s some time and effort it could also allow your car to fill a spot you’d otherwise avoid if there wasn’t enough room to open the doors.
A 180-degree view of traffic
Ford is launching a new safety gadget called Front Split View Camera, which lets drivers see around corners and will be available optionally for the all-new Galaxy and S-MAX MPVs.
It’s designed to take the stress away from exiting blind junctions or a driveway. Using a 1-megapixel camera integrated within the car’s front grille, the Front Split View Camera displays a 180-degree view both left and right of what’s coming via an eight-inch colour touchscreen on the centre console.
Any cars, motorcycles, pedestrians and cyclists coming across your path will now be a lot easier to notice without having to cautiously crawl from a junction. While the technology is still fresh at the moment, it will likely trickle down as an option with models like the Mondeo and Focus.
Pothole detection
One of the biggest pet peeves for motorists is driving on roads which contain potholes, some of which can be very difficult to see. Not only are they jarring for passengers, they can even cause damage to your vehicle.
It’s estimated that across Britain each year, £2.8 billion worth of damage is caused to cars by potholes, but Jaguar Land Rover has stepped in to try and make a change.
During June this year, the manufacturer revealed sensor technology that can detect potholes and broken manhole covers on the road. Equipped on either the Range Rover Evoque or Land Rover Discovery Sport, the sensors can work in conjunction with MagneRide suspension tech, allowing the damper settings to adjust to the road conditions. The technology would also map where potholes are located and pass this information to other similarly equipped vehicles and the road authorities for repair.
Autonomous cars
Autonomous cars, or driverless cars as they are also known, have received a lot of news coverage over the past 12 months, with companies like Nissan, Audi and even Google getting involved in developing such models.
Realistically we’ll still have to wait at least another ten years before we have fully autonomous vehicles filling up our roads. However, there’s a good chance we’ll have cars that can be fully autonomous in certain situations a lot sooner.
A good example is the technology that has been in development from Volvo and Tesla which allows them to drive independently on the motorway. Think cruise control, only cleverer then that.
Earlier this year, Tesla announced its latest Model S would receive a software update that will make it largely autonomous on motorways. Using data from sat-nav, GPS, real-time traffic updates and various onboard sensors, the updated Teslas can drive at a consistent legal speed on motorways. Not only that though, the software can keep in its lane and adjust the speed of the car automatically - making it go slower or faster in reaction to the traffic ahead, without input from the driver needed.