Page 1 of 4

Cars in the future

Posted: 25 Mar 2017, 23:00
by duke63
Talking to someone today whose friend works in the engineering department of a major motor manufacturer.

Apparently all R&D is now on electric engines and this company reckons that within 20 years no one will own their own car and when you want to go somewhere you will use an app to call up a driverless vehicle that will take you to where you want to go.

Interesting concept.

Re: Cars in the future

Posted: 26 Mar 2017, 00:02
by kiwikrasher
There better still be bikes!!!

Re: Cars in the future

Posted: 26 Mar 2017, 01:39
by D41
kiwikrasher wrote:Better still be bikes!!!
........Yoda???

Re: Cars in the future

Posted: 26 Mar 2017, 07:04
by Blade
I have heard of this. I believe the idea is we do everything from one account, so phone, money, transport etc will all be from say your Google account.

Re: Cars in the future

Posted: 26 Mar 2017, 12:48
by Kwacky
Life would be so much better if the number of cars were reduced. Driverless cars as well will vastly improve our lives as well as save the country billions.

Re: Cars in the future

Posted: 26 Mar 2017, 19:43
by TonyB
duke63 wrote:Talking to someone today whose friend works in the engineering department of a major motor manufacturer.

Apparently all R&D is now on electric engines and this company reckons that within 20 years no one will own their own car and when you want to go somewhere you will use an app to call up a driverless vehicle that will take you to where you want to go.

Interesting concept.
I went to an open day at Cov Uni last week to have a chat to the Engineering dept about degree courses etc and they said the same thing. There's a lot more emphasis on electronics. They have a guy on their course with a masters degree in engineering and he designs gearboxes for JagLandrover. He had to go back to uni to complete another postgrad degree to get up to speed (pun intended) with electronics as it wasn't a big thing when he was being educated.

Re: Cars in the future

Posted: 27 Mar 2017, 02:17
by D41
What's the deal on driverless cars??....I mean, don't they end up going around with absolutely no-one inside while they search for the next bunch of gullible hippy twats, to ferry them to and from the weekly flower festival??

I don't see them as anything more than a techie showpiece, TBPH.

Re: Cars in the future

Posted: 27 Mar 2017, 07:57
by duke63
They wait for the next call in the car parks that are now empty as no one owns their own car.

Re: Cars in the future

Posted: 27 Mar 2017, 08:45
by Kwacky
I think we'll struggle to get current car owners to move away from owning a car. It's a status symbol to a lot of people. But with sky high insurance costs I'm sure that younger drivers will go for it.

Re: Cars in the future

Posted: 27 Mar 2017, 11:47
by D41
It'll be like gas vs. electric....no-one will want one until they HAVE to have one....why would you?? Tesla are smart....instead of offering hybrids that get a gazillion miles to the gallon with a battery that costs $5000 to replace (or more!)...they put out a performance luxury car that actually looks great, and has some balls...."trickle-down effect", or whatever.

But anyway...they have the driverless cars up in LA....a few hundred cars (if that) in a city of three million has bugger-all prospect of going mainstream. They're a novelty item to show the tourists how cool we are while the rest of the city looks like Westgate Road on a friday night.

Re: Cars in the future

Posted: 27 Mar 2017, 11:53
by duke63
Tesla are apparently the reason a lot of mainstream manufacturers are running scared.

Its easy for governments to force changes to motoring via higher taxation. Their may also the be the issue that electric cars have all the character of a washing machine and may be seen as such by the general public meaning they would prefer to use one when they have to but not own one.

Re: Cars in the future

Posted: 27 Mar 2017, 11:59
by Monty
D41 wrote:But anyway...they have the driverless cars up in LA....a few hundred cars (if that) in a city of three million has bugger-all prospect of going mainstream. They're a novelty item to show the tourists how cool we are while the rest of the city looks like Westgate Road on a friday night.
Philistine!

Re: Cars in the future

Posted: 27 Mar 2017, 12:05
by D41
Heseltine!!

Re: Cars in the future

Posted: 27 Mar 2017, 12:11
by Kwacky
D41 wrote:
But anyway...they have the driverless cars up in LA....a few hundred cars (if that) in a city of three million has bugger-all prospect of going mainstream. They're a novelty item to show the tourists how cool we are while the rest of the city looks like Westgate Road on a friday night.
Governments will push for driverless cars and younger drivers will want driverless cars.

I'm sure I've said this before, but driverless cars save billions. They reduce emissions, cut down on traffic jams (which is costly), reduces insurance costs, reduces the need for patrolling police officers to deal with traffic offences, cut down on road traffic incidents (which in turn cost us billions each year) reduce wear and tear on the roads so reduce the need for repairs and maintenance, vastly reduce the need for road furniture... the lists go on.

Simply reducing the number of accidents has a massive effect - less pressure on hospitals, less time off work, less police involvement, no emergency road repairs, no blocked roads etc.

Driverless cars will free up the courts as well as traffic offences will be massively reduced.

Re: Cars in the future

Posted: 27 Mar 2017, 12:19
by D41
How can they cut down on congestion if there's still a vehicle on the road....only this time with no-one in it???

Re: Cars in the future

Posted: 27 Mar 2017, 12:22
by D41
They prolly have No Smoking signs in them too, just to pile insult upon injury.

Re: Cars in the future

Posted: 27 Mar 2017, 12:28
by Kwacky
D41 wrote:How can they cut down on congestion if there's still a vehicle on the road....only this time with no-one in it???
No sharp braking, no tailgating, no distracted drivers, no ignoring traffic signals, no problems with joining traffic, steady speeds and speed limits adhered to.

I've lost count of the number of times I've filtered past stopped traffic on the motorway and there being no reason for the standstill.

They also make car sharing easier as there will be apps showing intended routes or regular routes taken by subscribers.

Re: Cars in the future

Posted: 27 Mar 2017, 12:44
by D41
Those are good points.....as riders, I think we tend to also become better as drivers....even if only at a purely observational level.

Re: Cars in the future

Posted: 27 Mar 2017, 17:39
by Cav
TonyB wrote:
duke63 wrote:Talking to someone today whose friend works in the engineering department of a major motor manufacturer.

Apparently all R&D is now on electric engines and this company reckons that within 20 years no one will own their own car and when you want to go somewhere you will use an app to call up a driverless vehicle that will take you to where you want to go.

Interesting concept.
I went to an open day at Cov Uni last week to have a chat to the Engineering dept about degree courses etc and they said the same thing. There's a lot more emphasis on electronics. They have a guy on their course with a masters degree in engineering and he designs gearboxes for JagLandrover. He had to go back to uni to complete another postgrad degree to get up to speed (pun intended) with electronics as it wasn't a big thing when he was being educated.
Software is overtaking electronics... and quickly!

For every 1 design change we make, there would have been up to 15 software mods and 3 or 4 electronic mods to "cover" a problem until the time arises where we can successfully design out the issue (although at that point we then introduce a new one!).

Re: Cars in the future

Posted: 28 Mar 2017, 15:11
by D6
If I was commuting by car, I'd happily have something that drove for me. I can then just go online and browse or even read a book during the drive. I hate driving cars.