What will cars look like in fifty or a hundred years? While futuristic artists and movie decorators are actively fantasizing about the future, we will try to reflect on what is already there and on real perspectives.
Trends
There are five of them in the modern automotive industry:
Increased power. Everything is clear here - technologies are developing every year, and at the same time the power of machines is increasing. From this follows economy. What all automakers are striving for is getting more powerful engines while using less fuel.
Further - an equally important component, especially for the "green": environmental friendliness. The car should not pollute the nature in any way.
Security. The driver must be confident that in the event of an accident, the vehicle will protect him.
And finally, downsizing. When there were few cars, they, of course, were impressive in size. This was done not for show, but because the engines took up much more space in the car than today. Size doesn't matter now. Rather, it has - the less, the better. There are so many cars that they are trying to make them more compact in size, without reducing the "physical" features of the car. All these trends will continue for a long time. So, when fantasizing about the cars of the future, it is worth considering them.
General Motors has partnered with Segway to develop an electric two-seater prototype of the future car, called the P. U. M. A. (Personal Urban Mobility and Accessibility). This car has only two wheels.
By piv?
What to expect very soon? Fully electric vehicle. A hundred years later, it was completely robotic. Today, there are still enough mechanical components in the car. But progress does not stand still. For example, one talented guy, Nissan's chief product designer Masato Inoue, has already created a prototype with his colleagues. It's called the Nissan pivo 2 concept. Needless to say, a fitting name for drinkers. Yes, it was not so. All your actions are monitored by an assistant robot that sits next to you. It looks, by the way, about the same as R2 D2 from Star Wars. Only the Nissan robot has two eyes, each of which is a camera. “These eyes opposite” always recognize your emotions. Robots never sleep, but they vigilantly monitor whether you have fallen asleep. So, as soon as you, having relaxed a little, close your eyes, the iron spy will tenderly suggest: "You have been driving for a long time, would you like to take a nap?" And then it will show on the map where the nearest hotels and hotels are located. And the robot will easily park even in the most inappropriate place in your opinion. And four wheels of a car rotating at 90 degrees and the same cabin rotating in all directions help him in this matter. Pivo sees everything from any direction with cameras positioned along the body for a full 360-degree view.
Imagine - now all this is being developed and thought out to the smallest detail. And in the future we are waiting for a full-fledged robot that can easily bring to any place with minimal costs, park without problems, and even, perhaps, be a personal guide. Not only that, driving a car using a smartphone will become as natural as snowfall in winter. I needed to go for a friend - I just typed a command on the device, and the car will fly at full steam, wherever you want. Already today, the Californian company Lit Motors has developed an indoor electric scooter called the Lit C-1. The concept has a powerful base for integration with smartphones.
Desert ship
Of course, it's not just about electric vehicles. Is it possible that you do not have to refuel your car at all, standing in the sausage lines? In the future, anything is possible. But what is there in the future - such prototypes are being developed now. American designer Lauren Kulesus has created a concept that, without consuming fuel, can last a hundred years. Needless to say: for ten days without water, all camels wander. And although the car is still only at the stage of a computer project, you can still say a few words about it. The named brother of the ships of the desert runs on radioactive batteries and is called the Cadillac WTF (Cadillac World Thorium Fuel). The role of the "battery" is played by a chemical element - thorium. By the way, at the maintenance base you will not be a frequent visitor, you will have to carry your "iron camel" for inspection once every five years. Very comfortably. The fact is that the concept is equipped with twenty-four (!) Narrow wheels arranged in four rows of six each, and tire wear is an average of five years. Minus - driving this car is possible only in dry weather. Apparently, this is due to the work of the radioactive element. When we will see this miracle of engineering, it is also unknown. But there is hope that in the 21st century.
In the future, all cars will become not just a means of transportation, but also a "smart device" that will be able to communicate with their own kind without any wires. Ford is currently trying a similar system that can analyze the location of your car and see the surrounding area. The technology promises to be available by the end of the decade.
We fly
Flying cars are a fertile theme for futurist artists. And Turkish designer Kazim Doku, who, by the way, became the winner of the recent Audi competition. His concept of the Audi Shark aeromobile really looks like a super-fast "shark". The streamlined body informs us of this - a hint of underwater design. Shark has two chairs in one line. The flying fish, clearly inspired by the romance of airplanes and motorcycles, offers passengers "the highest level of safety combined with a unique experience." However, all this is from the realm of fantasy, although it is possible that in a few decades the fairy tale will come true.
But the designer Thomas Larsen Red considers the idea quite feasible. And that a similar project will be implemented in the mysterious 2053 year. This follows from the name of the car - Chase 2053. The futuristic car will be able to move both on the ground and in the air. The three-wheeled concept is powered by a hydrogen engine. The body of the car is made of carbon nanotubes, which makes the car stable and minimizes the possibility of damage. Parting with fixed tools dramatically reduces the weight of the vehicle, allowing it to float above the world with ease. Well, let's wait. There are still some forty years left.
One guy (the name of his story is silent) "fell in love" with the car from the movie "Back to the Future". As a child, he started saving money and, as a teenager, bought himself a DeLorean DMC-12. Years later, he made this car the embodiment of his childhood dream. True, he was never able to travel in time, but he can easily be confused with the car from the movie.
And let's swim
Easy. The creators of the Rinspeed sQuba concept claim that they were pushed to the idea of its invention by the movie "The Spy Who Loved Me", where James Bond was traveling in his underwater car. The sQuba can easily swim and submerge in water to a depth of ten meters. And also - to drive without a driver using a single button on the remote control. However, such "lonely" buttons alarming me personally. Yes, and you should not flatter yourself too much - this car still has a long revision. Today, the disadvantage is that the driver and passenger will have to get wet through when immersed in water, and breathe with the help of underwater masks. You should not count on high speed, both on land and under water. Do not believe the films: in fact, under the hood of the amphibian there are only 72 "horses", and it can accelerate on land up to 120 km / h, on water - up to 6 km / h, and under water - and only at 3 km / h. Even turtles will overtake you. And although there are many versions of amphibious vehicles in the world, significant flaws can be found in each of them. So there is no need to count on "amphibiousness" in the near future.
In 1939, San Antonio Light magazine wrote about future cars that could be folded into a small suitcase. We were a little wrong. Perhaps we are also mistaken in our vision of the future.
No - car service
The type of cars, which may well become something commonplace in a hundred years, is striking to the core. The GINA Light Visionary Model Concept is a real, "living" car. It is represented by BMW. The sports platform for this car is from the Z8, with a five-liter V8. But its charm is not in the technical characteristics, but in the body, which is made of a special fibrous material. The car can take whatever form its owner wants. If you want to get under the hood, it will "move apart" from the center. Improve aerodynamics - the concept will have a spoiler. The car will "open its eyes" as soon as you turn on the headlights. And also any scratches and dents will "heal" by themselves on a car, literally, like on a dog. You will no longer have the opportunity to leave a lot of money in a car service. What a bad luck for auto mechanics! The future belongs to cars that will change their appearance at the push of a button. And this is not as fantastic as it seemed to us a couple of years ago.
"Green" cars
And now about the pollution of the environment. Auto companies, as you know, are fighting for the title of the "greenest" car day and night. It's not enough for them to come up with a car that does not pollute the air. We also need an eco-car that will purify this air. Before that, the creators of the concept with the corresponding name Green Apple thought of it. It looks like a "typical" car of the future. But it is worth paying attention to the air collectors, inside of which there are small turbines that generate electricity while driving. There are also installed filters that purify the city air at the outlet. No wonder the idea has a great future. It is quite possible that such eco-cars will indeed fill the cities, and no one will be able to pass the buck on a sore head, writing off emissions from hazardous industries for exhaust gases from cars.
By 2020, adaptive cruise control, based on radar data, will become popular, allowing you to keep your distance from the vehicle in front of you.
I would also like to note the Korean Hyundai City Car, which also attracted special attention. Designed by designer Nicholas Stone, the body consists of photocells. They capture the energy coming from the Sun and power the batteries with it. In addition, the future city car has a special reservoir with water, where it is decomposed into oxygen and hydrogen under the influence of electricity. The hydrogen is accumulated and, if necessary, is used to generate electricity, which goes to power the various systems of the machine. And oxygen simply goes out into the exhaust pipe, a process Daniel Noser called artificial photosynthesis. All this, of course, is wonderful, but between the concept and the car capable of conquering the roads, there is an abyss. Well, it's up to the engineers who, thanks to their diligence, are capable of, it seems, bring to life anything.
Wheel, fighter and UFO
The originality of car shapes also keeps the designers awake. There is no need to talk about how many wonderful ideas have become reality. But it is possible that in the near future we will no longer represent the car as something with four wheels. The most common idea is to transform a car … into one big wheel. The eRinGo Concept Car is one such idea. Three wheels in this concept are connected together: the central one is the driving one and two lateral supports. Equilibrium on one wheel is achieved using a gyroscope. Concept creator Mohammad Gesell believes eRinGo is the perfect vehicle for two friends. There are two steering wheels in the car, and when one of the friends gets tired, the other will take the wheel without changing seats. This car has one problem - it is not clear how to prove to law enforcement officials who was driving.
While some turn cars into a solid wheel, others get rid of them altogether. A designer with the characteristic name Huiha Ngoka Lana has created a concept that looks like a hybrid between a stealth fighter and a UFO. The car has the ability to move in any direction thanks to the wheels, which are three spheres. The approach to changing the steering wheel we are used to is also interesting. Together with him in the car - a control ball with integrated functions of movement to the left, right and rotation.
Magnetic machines
But this is all much closer to being realized than, say, magnetic roads and cars that can drive on them. Although, who knows. It was such a car that was developed as a true "concept car". Magnet Car was invented to solve the problem with the economy of the car. It is clear that the car will move with magnets that lift the car above the road, which makes it half its weight lighter. How realistic is this idea? We'll find out in a few years.
Motorcycle Negro
"Green", safe, fast, cool, some can do one thing, others - another. But what about the beta-mobiles or transformers, cars that combine several qualities? How the tank and the Lamborghini were "crossed" in the movie "Batman Begins". Why not tie a Ferrari to a helicopter or a Maserati to a submarine? Better, of course, is a car with a jet fighter. Someday the transformers from the movie of the same name will become a reality. In the meantime, the transformers are a dynamic SUV coupe that can turn into a convertible or a sports pickup. Transformations start small.
The MILA Coupic concept car was presented by Magna Steyr, which, by the way, is a partner company of the Russian ё-auto. The car is designed for five passengers. The roof of the car is equipped with transparent inserts resembling blinds. The front and rear sections of the roof can be folded in two directions independently of each other. All you need to do is press a button. The rear seats fold with the same ease. It is as a result of this transformation that the rear wall is formed at the cab, and the car turns into a pickup truck. What is most memorable in this concept is that the finishing materials and the concept itself were borrowed from sports shoes. Whether such a car has a future, judge for yourself.
Read minds
And here's a car completely from the realm of science fiction. However, this is what we think now. As literally fifteen years ago, they did not dream of smartphones. We are talking about cars driven by the power of thought. Already now there are many programs that allow you to read information from your brain. This idea is being implemented in phones, headphones, glasses, wherever. This also affected future cars. For example, the Merc Cyborg, also known as the Mercedes F400. This electric vehicle is equipped with a unique suspension with individual electric drive for each wheel. The car does not have a steering wheel, gear lever or pedals. But there is a dome located above the driver's head, which reads the impulse signals coming from his brain. Thus, the car is driven by thoughts. And although such a car still exists in the form of a mock-up, the designer is confident that the technology necessary for its creation will become quite affordable in 2040.
In the meantime, all these innovations have not yet happened - enjoy the good old Renault, BMW, and, perhaps, the "classics". Fair wind!