drive
Cars of Today
and Tomorrow
three trends making waves in showrooms
By Mark riChardson
Cars are getting smarter
every
year. Here are some of the latest
technological breakthroughs—and
what they mean for drivers.
autonomous cars
On the official scale rating of self-
driving cars, where zero is an old car
with no autonomous features and five
is a vehicle that doesn’t need 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.
While the car isn’t yet legal in
Canada, 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 techniques—regardless of the
vehicle’s high-tech qualities.
Many existing, less expensive cars
can already drive themselves for short
periods 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. Sensors and cameras on
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 (“adaptive
cruise control”), and park themselves.
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 before you get there.
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
subsidies 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
in spite of your
car’s autonomous
2020 if a network of filling
features, always avoid
stations linking Quebec
distracted driving
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
environmentally friendly and cost-
effective remains a challenge.
Long story short, traditional
gasoline-powered cars are far from
finished. Mazda, for example, is about
to introduce 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.
Fully connected
Most current cars connect digitally
to a central server to provide engine
diagnostics. You might also receive
occasional notifications from your
dealer or service technician saying
it’s time for an oil change or other
adjustment. Just who owns the data
that cars generate is still uncertain,
but CAA is working to make sure the
answer is vehicle owners.
Inside the car, USB and Bluetooth
connections for your phone
are now pretty much
standard. Apple CarPlay
Eyes on
the road
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