Image via Complex Original
We're amazed by the amount of technology in today's cars; the Mercedes E-Class we tested a few weeks ago was equipped with seven radar arrays, a sterescopic camera, an infrared camera, and 10 ultrasonic sensors. That said, there are still some things we're still waiting for.
Amazingly, even most of the more fantastical ideas we have are actually on the horizon. History books are going to look upon this age in the same way that they look on the industrial revolution. The digital revolution is about to bring us these 10 Car Inventions We're Waiting For.
RELATED: A History of the Flying Car
Hydrogen Power
Tesla Motors has proved that electric cars can kick ass, but we're stilling waiting for an electric car than can be charged in under five mintes, and we do miss the "vroom" noises. For those who don't care about the "vroom" or performance, there are a number of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles in development and even just entering production, and for the enthusiasts out there Aston Martin has lapped the Nurburgring in a Rapide S powered by a twin-turbo hydrogen V12.
Airless Tires
We keep seeing concepts of tires that will never deflate, due to the fact that they get their spring from rubber structures, but we're yet to see a set for sale at a local tire store. Michelin, Bridgestone, and Hankook have all worked on the problem, but none have announced a production version of their concepts.
Lagless Turbos
Companies keep saying things like "the [insert marketing crap here] virtually eliminates turbo lag," but the key word there is "virtually." There's still turbo lag, and turbo lag is really annoying.
Hybrid turbochargers, which use an electric motor to keep the compressor running at low RPMs, are on the horizon, and rumor has it that the new Subaru WRX might feature one, but as it stands the lagless turbo is still fantasy.
Five Minute Charging
The Tesla Supercharger network is an amazing feat of engineering that makes electric car ownership truely practical for the first time. Don't get us wrong; we're very impressed. We don't want to have to stop for 30 minutes though. Sometimes we want to just fuel up and move on. What if I'm craving some Subway and the only restaurant near the charging station is a Burger King? WHAT THEN, TESLA?
A Sequential Manual for the Road
World Rally Cars use sequential manual transmissions. For those of you who don't know that those are, there are three pedals just like any other manual, but rather than an H-gate the driver simply pulls back on the lever to upshift and pushes forward to downshift. They shift much more quickly and cleanly than a standard transmission, but there are a few down-sides that some good engineers could surely work around.
Not being able to shift from a high-gear to neutral can be annoying on the road, but if there were a way to simply disengage the clutch with a lever on or near the shift that work just as well. We're willing to live with not being able to shift directly from 5th to 3rd, because it really doesn't take much time to hit a lever twice. Something like this on a car like a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution would be the shit.
Flying Cars
Yes, there technically are a few flying cars for sale right now, but they're all more like roadable aircraft. What we're really looking for is a vehicle that feels more or less like a car. Terrafugia has promised a 200 mph VTOL flying car with autopilot that looks like a carp, but only time will tell.
An Efficient Rotary Engine
Rotary engines are, in theory, a great idea. Due to the fact that the engine isn't using power to reverse the momentum of the cylinders every time they cycle, they should be really efficient. Sadly, in practice the Wankel engines, the only rotary that is yet to be marketed, drinks both fuel and oil like Barney Gumble downs Duff beer.
The Vengeance Power Engine, looks promising, even if it was apparently named by a six-year-old or Jeremy Clarkson, but has yet to make it to market.
Impervious Paint
If a car came with paint that was actually harder than all the stuff that strikes it regularly we'd buy one right now. We wouldn't even care if it was just a rebodied Reliant Robin. This would be huge.
Autonomous Driving
Autonomous vehicles are constantly in the news these days, and a number have companies have promised that our cars will drive themselves by 2020. As much as we love driving, we hate commuting, and so we welcome this development.
Nobody loves traffic, or really enjoys trying to stay alert while cruising down mile after mile after mile of featureless interstate, so why not just kick back and let the machine take over. We will check to see if any of the parts suppliers are called "Cyberdyne" first, though.
Complete Phone Integration
We've used a lot of automakers' infotainment systems, and most of they are pretty damn annoying. Worse still, they add a significant amount of money to the car's price. The navigation systems are also usually worse than aftermarket ones, but 10 to 20 times more expensive.
What we want to see is a car that just comes with a screen and a dock for your smartphone. The phone could enter a "car mode" that would block texts, and put the call features on voice control, draw power from the car's electrical system, and display a suite of apps that would be useful while in a car. Want Nav? Download it. Want track day software? Download it. Want service and maintenance info from your car? Download it.
This would make cars cheaper, better, and more customizable.
