As an alternative to all-electric cars, hybrid vehicles came into play. We already know about conventional gasoline rides.
They’ve experienced a lot of innovations over the years – now, we are already seeing solar-powered vehicles.
A lot of positive disruptions keep happening in the auto world. You should know about some car modern technology that is driving the auto industry.
The auto industry is among the first industries to adapt to modern technologies, and they do it so much earlier than any other industry.
Over the years, a lot of technologies have been used in auto designing and manufacturing.
This article is going to focus on the several modern technologies found on this-day automobiles.
Furthermore, buying a new car used to be very expensive – while some cars are still highly-priced.
There are much more budget-friendly cars that come along with several modern features, including car safety features and driver assistance systems.
When inspecting a new car you wish to buy; most people would spend time checking the hood (inside-out), the physical body, tires, and other common places.
Not many people research and try to understand the several technologies used in the car.
Nevertheless, this article is going to explain more about such technologies.
Most recent cars of today come with interactive technologies that facilitate communication between the driver and the passengers.
Some of these modern car technologies are important for families, and thanks to some safety systems, your little kid can’t just open the rear door and get out of the car (for any reason at all).
However, this article does not actually recommend the vehicles that may be mentioned here.
The focus is on the technologies utilized by the car(s) and not necessarily its durability or reliability.
We have previously published an article for cars with the best technologies.
Some Car Modern Technology That Is Driving The Auto Industry CRAZE
Number One: The Autonomous Technologies
Self-driving cars or autonomous vehicles, whichever name you prefer to call it, are triggered by an automated driving system.
Although there are not many of such vehicles on the roads at the moment, the autonomous technology is vastly growing (just like EVs), and would soon be rampant.
Many automakers are starting to manufacture self-driving cars in bulk.
The birth of this technology also made ways for quite a lot of techs we now see on conventional vehicles – techs like the automatic emergency braking system (AEB).
And other automated techs that do not require human intervention before applying automatic control over a car to prevent a possible collision or accident.
While on conventional cars and hybrids, these automated techs will firstly notify the driver, and would only engage (self-trigger) if the driver does not respond quickly to the alert/warning.
In contrast, this tech automatically engages in autonomous vehicles since there’s no one (a driver) controlling the car.
Some very important techs you’ll find on self-driving vehicles include:
- Vehicle to Vehicle (V2V): Enables self-driving cars to communicate with each other.
- Vehicle to Infrastructure (V2I): Checks for overhead traffic and infrastructures on the routes.
- Laser sensors: to study the distance and momentum of other vehicles and bikes around.
- Lidar (light detection and ranging) sensors: performs almost the same function with the laser sensors. Lidar enables the autonomous vehicle to detect road edges and identify lane markings.
Different autonomous techs have been continuously emerging and getting integrated into newer models.
Among the various modern technologies that really disrupted the auto industry, the autonomous tech is one of the most prominent.
Number Two: Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC)
1992 was the year the first time radar-based technology was used in a car – it debuted as a warning system that notifies drivers of obstacles ahead.
We are now in 2020, and this tech has severely advanced to a full-blown Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) system.
The Adaptive Cruise Control system is a modern technology that calculates and maintains a certain distance between a vehicle and another that is ahead.
ACC (is enabled in a vehicle) will automatically slow down the vehicle once it gets closer to the one in front – this action happens without the driver’s action.
More so, some well-advanced versions of this tech will put the car to a stop in traffic and also trigger the car to continue when the traffic eases.
There is no doubt that different automakers integrate different versions of this tech in their vehicles; nevertheless, the function is the same on all vehicles – to regulate the “Cruising” without the driver’s effort.
This technology works with radar and camera sensors to monitor the vehicles ahead and keep a reasonable distance.
It also works with a set of smart techs to ensure smooth driving.
While autonomous cars might take longer before becoming rampant, this semi-autonomous feature and a couple of others are already giving us hints of what to expect.
Number Three: More Cameras, Radars, and Sensors
Today’s vehicles are packed with quite many radars and cameras for different purposes.
These radars power the sensitivity of the several technology features that may be found in a car, including the Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) system.
While cars have always been packed with several sensors (from the 90s), the number has drastically increased in today’s modern autos.
Thanks to the autonomous technology, that’s birthing many intelligent driver-assistance technologies found on conventional vehicles, hybrids, and even EVs.
The automatic braking system, lane departure warning system, and many others work with radars and cameras that are strategically placed around the car.
Number Four: Several Warning/Alert Systems
One of the common technologies you will find on many of today’s cars include lane-keep assist, rare cross-traffic alert system, cruise control, forward collision warning systems, and more.
All these tech systems send a warning or ring an alert sound to the driver to notify a potential collision or hazard.
There have been several such systems integrated into many cars you’ll see on the road today.
In some vehicles (typically their upper trims), these warning systems have access to control the car’s movement, like stopping the car or slowing down the vehicle if the driver ignores the warning and keeps getting closer to the detected hazard.
Having such modern technologies on a car is quite impressive and helps drivers a whole lot.
These systems are reducing driver fatigue, and it improves safety for everyone in the car.
Number Five: Heated and ventilated seats
Ever heard of heated and ventilated car seats? That’s another interesting modern technology seen in most cars today.
It’s not like this tech is new, anyway, but it’s just becoming common/rampant.
You get to enjoy this feature more when it’s winter period.
Outside feels so cold and chilly, but once inside your car (which has heated and ventilated seats), you’ll feel so warm and relieved.
You may not get this technology on base-model trims of modern rides as it’s a somewhat luxury-level feature found on upper trims or luxury models of most cars.
The interesting thing about this tech is that it warms you up during winter, keeps you at a comfortable temperature during the summer, and in some cars, you could get a good massage to soothe your nerves.
Heated car seats have been around since 1966 in the Fleetwood luxury car by Cadillac.
Even the 1972 Saab 99 model had heated seats. Of you value your comfort and health (most especially your back), this tech will certainly interest you.
Number Six: Automatic Liftgates
As seen in the 2013 Ford Escape, this technology comes in “most” handy when you go shopping and then comes out with loads of groceries.
If your car has the Automatic Liftgates feature, as you step closer to the car, it automatically opens up for you to load the groceries.
Hence, you won’t have to drop your packages on the ground to manually open the car and load them in.
On the 2013 Ford Escape, this technology is “foot-activated.” You need to be at a certain range for the car to unlock and open.
Nevertheless, this tech reportedly did not work so efficiently – some car owners had to kick their car for the sensor to detect their presence and open up the doors.
But, it’s 2020, and this tech advanced a lot – it is more efficient and effective right now.
Plus, it made way for other cutting-edge car technologies to come into play.
Now, you need to be in a certain “Key Fob’s” range, your car detects your close presence and automatically opens up; no need to practice your kickboxing skills anymore.
Number Seven: 360-Degree Cameras
So many drivers crash their vehicles while attempting to park in a lot; hence, insurance claims from low-speed crashes are among the commonest in the industry.
Such collisions often when people buy new cars – they may not have known how big their car is, and would try the same skills of parking the old “smaller” vehicle with the new “bigger” vehicle.
Well, with 360-degree camera systems, drivers can now see a clear rearview and guide their vehicles to a marked our parking spot.
This technology is much advanced than just having a rearview camera attached to your car.
Most modern cars (even on base models, lower trims) now come with a 360-degree camera system.
This means that there are quite a several cameras installed around the car’s exterior to work with a high-tech system (usually the car touchscreen display unit) to show a detailed top-down view of your surroundings.
The $15,790 Honda Fit featured this tech; this validates the fact that you do not need to spend much to enjoy this feature and stop turning your neck at different angles just to pack your car in a space.
Some cars below $10k now come with a rearview camera system, though not as advanced as a 360-degree camera system.
You certainly would love to get this feature if you’ve crashed your car(s) several times while trying to park at a grocery store or even a paid parking lot.
Number Eight: Improved Communications and Interactive Systems
Thanks to techs like Apple’s Car Play and Android Auto, drivers can now integrate their smartphones with their vehicles for improved interactions and communications.
Before now, the possible ways to connect a smartphone with your car system is through USB or Bluetooth connections.
Yet, the accessibility is well-limited; USB connections to charge the phone and Bluetooth for music streaming.
However, modern car technologies have made it possible for drivers to completely integrate and access their smartphones (iOS or Android) from a larger display monitor.
Now, drivers can send messages, make calls, stream, and access a ton of other apps on their connected mobile device hands-free.
This will enable the driver to focus more since he won’t need to constantly take a look at the smartphone that’s lying beside his seat.
A couple of other interactive features are integrated into most modern car’s display systems, including gesture control features.
Well, some people think this tech is a huge distraction for drivers, but we don’t really think so – it made communications just easier.
The BMW 7 Series comes with a highly sensitive touchscreen control panel that is capable of recognizing quitemany gestures.
For example, if you make a circular gesture, the sensor will detect you want to increase or decrease audio volume, and it’ll do just that, right away.
Also, left or right swipe gestures can answer or rejects calls.
Other vehicles from other brands have different ways of recognizing gestures; plus, drivers could set custom gesture configurations in some advanced versions of this tech.
If you think this is a huge distraction, kindly drop a comment on this post.
These are the most prominent car modern technologies that are rapidly rolling out on many cars, even on cheaper models.
However, you should know that different automakers might customize these techs for their vehicles; nevertheless, the functions are virtually the same on every car irrespective of the brand, name, model, or type.
While some people still view these innovations as an increased risk for drivers, most of these techs actually increased safety and reduced driver fatigue for smoother rides.
There are many more technologies not mentioned here.