How 2010 Changed The Future of Cars, FOREVER

How 2010 Changed The Future Of Cars, Forever

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You Will Avoid The Airport If At All Possible

2010 will be remembered as the year that flying in a commercial airliner lost whatever smidgen of enjoyment it had left.

The Transportation Security Administration pat-downs and body scanners turned its inspections into encounters many Americans thought they'd saved for a doctor's office or their bedrooms; pilots revolted while embarrassments mounted. Weather played havoc in winter, while a volcano grounded much of
Europe for a summer month.

AAA estimated 92.3 million people will drive for the holidays this year, none of whom will be groped without permission.

Your Next Engine Will Have A Turbo


Faced with tougher fuel economy rules around the world, automakers started rolling out smaller turbocharged engines across their lineups, from the Nissan Juke to the BMW M5.

If Ford can sell a turbo V6 as a top-line engine to the infamously picky pickup owners, there's no vehicle that couldn't benefit from a little extra boost.

Your Next Car Wil Have A Plug
After four years of toil, the Chevrolet Volt finally scooted out of the factory, doing pretty much what GM had promised it would do — drive about 35 miles on electricity, without "range anxiety."

Every major automaker has some kind of electric or plug-in hybrid combo in the works, and the rollouts will come quickly over the next few years — as long as the money from governments around the world easing the high costs of their batteries keep flowing.

Haven't Had A Recall Yet? Just Wait
Thanks to Toyota's taunting of U.S. regulators over defects it knew about but didn't fix to save money, automakers decided to make a point of issuing more recalls this year, with some 20 million vehicles recalled in the United States alone.

Meanwhile, those same regulators pushed for new powers and vowed to step up enforcement for problems that automakers might not otherwise want to fix.

Computer Geeks Will Call You A Terrible Driver
With the unveiling of its driverless car, Google took the first step to fixing what CEO Eric Schmitt called "the bug that cars were invented before computers."

Similar trials in Europe aimed to replace drivers with a combination of software and sensors that promise to remove the human element from driving. Because we all know how flawlessly software runs...

You Car Will Come With Split Personalities Standard
Automakers have been trying to make buyers feel like little Mario Andrettis for years by including switches for "sport" mode in a suspension or transmission. This year the Nissan's Leaf went the other way; it's "Eco" mode actually makes the gas pedal stiffer, requiring drivers to think harder about burning energy.

But Ford showed what's really possible with modern control systems via its TracKey system, giving Mustang Boss owners the ability to engage a full race-car mode with a single super key.

Cell Phones In Cars Are The New Beating Your Children
U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood's ongoing battle against distracted driving produced results, with 30 states banning texting while driving by the end of the year along with a continuing line of public service announcements.

There's no proof the laws are actually reducing crashes, but LaHood's still brainstorming other ways to pursue the problem, like jamming cellphone signals.

Lightness Rules
Did the Great Awakening come to the potentates of Volkswagen, Porsche, Ferrari, McLaren and others as they huddled together in a Swiss chalet? Or individually, asleep under their 1000-threadcount sheets, suffering nightmares of 6,000-lb. SUVs?

However it came, the realization that the next generation of supercars would need to be lighter via massive amounts of carbon fiber spread like a glue fire in the 458 Italia's engine bay. With a few exceptions...

America Will Decide Cars From Detroit Don't Automatically Suck
It wasn't just Wall Street that decided cars and trucks from Detroit automakers might be worth something. Whether in sales or quality surveys, General Motors, Ford and Chrysler made a reasonable comeback from the depths of the Carpocalypse, while replacing some of their worst models with more competitive ones.

Hating on Detroit will always be in style in some circles, but there's fewer reasons than ever for doing so.
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I thought this was an interesting read....as you look at the changing auto industry, you already see a lot of these changes being made.

I don't expect to see a plug in my truck just yet, but I know the future of technology is upon us. From an economical standpoint, I do see this happening. But I am sure the increase in technology will decrease the lifetime of the vehicle....hence more pollution at the landfills and from smelter plants.

Either way, may the force be with us as we ride into the sunset.

I'm surprised you didn't include anything about the black boxes that will be required in all new cars.

reply to post by DestroyDestroyDestroy


I haven't because that would be considered 'highly speculative' at this point.

I would think GPS trackers would be mandatory, but I am not hearing much in the news about BB's at the moment. Good point though.

I see it culminating into a huge value increase in classic cars. Classic cars will be a safe place to invest your money as these types of things creep into cars and the populace gets tired of big government invading every moment of their lives. That 1996 Honda Civic will be worth putting 4k in to make it dependable again. ( not a classic car...Yet! ) because it gets 40 miles to a gallon and does not have all the crap associated with new cars. There will always be a loophole no matter how hard they try to hold our hand when we go take a leak. They already have us with the cell phone though.

reply to post by Skywatcher2011


I see both sides of the argument, while GPS trackers would be an intrusion of privacy, they can also assist you in finding your car in the event that it's stolen. Still, however, I think I'd prefer privacy; I don't like the idea of being tracked by anyone.

The same goes for BBs, though they could help pinpoint who is at fault in an accident with ease by tracking cars' speed and so on. I haven't heard much on the black boxes either, other than some alarming rumors about them recording video and audio.

Originally posted by jimmiec
I see it culminating into a huge value increase in classic cars. Classic cars will be a safe place to invest your money as these types of things creep into cars and the populace gets tired of big government invading every moment of their lives. That 1996 Honda Civic will be worth putting 4k in to make it dependable again. ( not a classic car...Yet! ) because it gets 40 miles to a gallon and does not have all the crap associated with new cars. There will always be a loophole no matter how hard they try to hold our hand when we go take a leak. They already have us with the cell phone though.

As technology advances so will insurance policies and "air care" requirements. That would make older cars obsolete and illegal to drive.

Remember, the Elite want you to keep spending your money on new products and government will support their (not your) initiative.

reply to post by Skywatcher2011


I dunno, there are HUGE classic car organizations with lobbying power to deal with before they could outlaw classic cars. That won't happen anytime soon. Besides, what is wrong with an older Honda Civic that gets 40 miles per gallon? That argument will not go well considering we see commercials for new cars touting 30 miles per gallon.

Originally posted by DestroyDestroyDestroy
reply to post by Skywatcher2011

 

I see both sides of the argument, while GPS trackers would be an intrusion of privacy, they can also assist you in finding your car in the event that it's stolen. Still, however, I think I'd prefer privacy; I don't like the idea of being tracked by anyone.

The same goes for BBs, though they could help pinpoint who is at fault in an accident with ease by tracking cars' speed and so on. I haven't heard much on the black boxes either, other than some alarming rumors about them recording video and audio.

.
My thing is, if i WANT GPS tracking, I will get it. If i don't, i won't.

anything that forces the issue one way or the other....that is unacceptable to me. When I was younger, i had a theft prevention system called, "driving an old beater." There would be no logic in putting in a system to track it in case of theft.

reply to post by Skywatcher2011

It's not improving technology that's off putting, it's the things that go along with it:
1) Changes in attitude
2) Changes in styles

If it were just technology that changed it would mostly be fine, but it's not.

Part of it is that adults don't change much and that children do. The other part is that technology can change us as we accommodate it. We become intolerant to past methods.

For example, computer technology is cool. It helps many industries. It makes our life easier. However, lets suggest it hypothetically changed our behavior from loose to highly technical. So we went from being able to tolerate loose circumstances to being intolerant to all but the most tightly controlled. So anybody that hasn't adapted to the computers will be unable to grasp the need for strict controls. I'm not saying this is what's going on, I'm simply giving an example of how technology might change us; our attitudes; our styles. That in turn will have further implications for society.

(btw, you ever really examined how picky computers are? they're very finicky. if one small variable is off, the whole thing can come crashing down. they almost require control freaks. even if a computer developer isn't a control freak, they might become one from the strain of their work. they get too familiar with the idea of computers being picky and start thinking everything is like that. so when something bad happens in life, it's a crash! it needs to be analyzed and bug fixed!)

The direction of change is not one way, as in people > technology > society, it's both ways:
people technology society.

We're changed by our environment as much as we change the environment. I think people are dramatically changed by their occupation, for example. How can they not be? People who do routine physical work for long hours tend to have stress injuries to the body. That's an example. But why would the changes be confined to physical things? I think it carries over to the mind too.

Not for me, My next vehicle will be
a 70's chevy pickup
or a old scout or jeep..

ive had enough of the new computer controlled
cars, not a fan of something i cant work on.