Why the next 20 years will change the car forever

Will I soon be feeling like Pierce Brosnan, driving an invisible Aston Martin like he did in Die Another Day? I attended this morning’s Innovation Week session called ‘The Future of Cars’ to find out.

After a brief history lesson of how the car model has evolved, Ian Betteridge, Editorial Director from Alphr.com and Steve Fowler, Editor-in-Chief at Auto Express took us through the five key innovations within the automotive market.

  1. The car is now a computer. Over the last 50 years, car manufacturers have nailed safely getting from A to B. Their focus now is on the user experience.
  2. Autonomous Vehicles. It’s unlikely that this will ever go as far as full ‘auto pilot’ (‘’never underestimate the love people have of actual drive’’ said Steve Fowler at Auto Express). An example that stuck in my head was developments in auto parking. This is something I know I would find particularly useful as I’m not known for my parking skills. When I first passed my driving test, I excitingly drove my friend and I to the cinema. Unfortunately, I couldn’t park and got more and more stressed to the point where I gave up and we had to go home, skipping the film altogether.
  3. Biometric developments could mean an end to car keys and instead we will be unlocking our cars using iris recognition, our finger prints or even our wearable tech. Great news! No more rummaging through my handbag looking for my keys for five minutes.
  4. Even more tracking using black boxes. Currently only a small number of vehicles have these enabled. In the future, all cars may have these, meaning an end to unreliable and unfair car insurance quotes.
  5. The Connected Car. Imagine a car with a ‘help’ button. This could transfer you straight to 999, the AA or give directions to those, like myself, that can sometimes struggle to read maps.

Unfortunately, there was no mention of invisible cars. However, just as exciting, and a lot more practical innovations are in development.

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OMD UK

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