drive
Inside the car, USB and Bluetooth
connections for your phone are now
pretty much standard. Apple CarPlay
and Android Auto go a step further by
mirroring your phone’s screen on the
car’s display. This helps keep the phone
out of your hands by enabling access to
apps by voice command or touch (when
the car is not in motion), but it’s not a
complete solution for distracted driving:
Research shows that interacting with
these technologies still has a major
impact on drivers’ mental workload.
Many manufacturers also offer their
own apps for locating your car and
understanding its basic diagnostics. The
BMW ConnectedDrive app can even tell
when you’re headed home, and offers
the ability to turn on lights and adjust
the thermostat at your house.
Waymo’s autonomous minivan
Drive
Cars of the Future
Three trends making waves in showrooms
around the world
By mark riChardson
every
year. Here are some of the latest
technological breakthroughs—and
what they mean for drivers.
Cars are getting smarter
autonomous cars
On the official scale rating self-driving
cars, where zero represents an old car
with no autonomous features and five is
a vehicle without even a steering wheel,
the 2018 Audi A8 claims to be the first
production car to reach level three.
It uses lidar, a laser-radar combination,
to virtually “see” the road ahead.
The car isn’t yet legal in Canada,
but it’s already being used in Europe.
When it does arrive here, you’ll still
have to be in the driver’s seat—and
will need to employ safe-driving tech-
niques—regardless of the vehicle’s
high-tech qualities.
Many existing, less expensive cars can
already drive themselves for short peri-
ods and under specific conditions—all
of which require driver supervision.
Every major automaker’s goal, however,
is to completely do away with manual
operation, likely within the next decade.
Meanwhile, manufacturers continue
to add autonomous features to mass-
market cars. Sensor s and cameras on
many new vehicles help them to stay
within their lane on the road (a feature
dubbed active lane assistance), keep a
safe distance from the car ahead (active
cruise control) and park themselves.
Fully connected
Most current cars connect digitally to
a central server to provide engine diag-
nostics. You may also get notifications
from your dealer or service technician
saying it’s time for an oil change or
other adjustment. Given the vast
amount of data being collected, a key
concern for AMA is the protection of
consumer privacy. AMA believes drivers
should be informed about what data is
being collected, and be able to choose
with whom that data is shared.
new fuels
We’ve been hearing about them for
years, but electric vehicles (EVs) are
really just coming into their own in
much of the world. That said, some
countries, states and provinces are now
encouraging the cars’ uptake with sub-
sidies and incentives—which is good,
since base prices for EVs are higher
than gas-powered cars. The Chevrolet
Bolt is the most advanced lower-priced
EV and boasts a full-charge driving
range of almost 400 kilometres, but
it still costs more than $43,000.
Hydrogen-powered vehicles are also
on the road in California, Japan and
parts of Europe. They could be sold in
Canada as early as 2020 if a network
of filling stations linking Quebec City
to Detroit comes to fruition. The cars’
biggest selling point is that they “drive
clean” by emitting only pure water.
But there are hurdles to overcome:
While hydrogen is abundant, turning
it into fuel in a way that’s both environ-
mentally friendly and cost-effective
remains a challenge.
Long story short, traditional gas-
powered cars are far from finished.
Mazda, for example, is about to intro-
duce a gas engine that doesn’t even
need a spark plug. It’s alleged to be
considerably more fuel-efficient than
regular engines and could rule the road
for years to come.
AMA InsIder
WInTer 2017
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