From electric vehicles to wireless charging stations for cars, weird concept cars to intriguing technologies that makes our cars better safer – we have seen a great deal of innovation in the automotive sector this year.
With the approach of 2014, let’s take a look back at the top developments in Smart Cars these past twelve months.
Top 10 Smart Car Trends of 2013
10. Dodging speed traps
The Cobra iRadar ATOM is a device that uses leading radar/laser detection technology to alert you of speed traps ahead. It gives you information if there are any upcoming speed cameras or red lights, and because it also connects to your smartphone, you have access to the iRadar Community.
The Community allows users to report and warn other users of live police, caution areas, and photo enforcement areas. When the iRadar detects a laser or speed trap, it automatically alerts the community.
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9.Transportation for rent
Owning a car or even a bike may be unwise in some cases. Car2Go and CoGo Bike Share aims to deliver the joy of driving a vehicle without having to worry about maintenance costs. These two services are rental providers that eliminate the need to go to rental facilities to get your bike or car.
Car2Go requires you to register online, submit your credit card info, pay a $35 membership fee. A membership card will be sent to you, which you will use to start and end your trip. You will only be billed when the trip is complete.
As for CoGo, the bike itself is equipped with a card reader so you can use your credit or debit card to rent the bike. You can either choose to pay $75 for a year of unlimited 30-minute rides plus you get your own key fob that you use to lock or unlock your bike, or pay $6 for a 24-hour rental of 30-minute rides, which would require you to swipe a credit or debit card to unlock the bike.
What you need to understand with CoGo is that the first 30 minutes is always free, so if you do not want to be billed, better dock the bike in its proper station so you don’t get billed. The point of the 30-minute rule is to encourage more people to use bikes and stations will always have an available unit for rent.
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8. Smart glass
Nope, I’m not talking about Google Glass. This smartglass, dubbed as the Magic Sky Control, is an innovation from Mercedes Benz. It is a panoramic glass roof that can change in appearance from a tinted glass to a clear pane of glass with the touch of a button.
This will give the people in the car the enjoyment of riding like the top is down, but still have the AC blasting. The best part about Magic Sky Control is that aside from it being bigger than the usual sun roof, in either mode, it effectively blocks UV and infrared rays keeping the cabin cooler and protecting the passengers from the sun’s harmful rays.
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7. Smart car seat
iAlert is a smart car seat that alerts you in real-time if the your kid has escaped their car seat, or if your child is left unattended (yes, this happens!) in their seat. It connects with a mobile app that assists you in installing the car seat, monitors the temperature in the vehicle, lets you store up to 12 emergency contacts right in the app, and alerts you if your kid got out of the seat while you’re driving and if you left your kid unattended. iAlert is the first connected car seat that not only keeps your kids safe but also monitors them.
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6. Smart Key
Ford’s MyKey may become a necessity for parents of hormonal teenagers. This key fob can be programmed to disable the car’s sound system if the seatbelt isn’t used or set of an alarm if the car is speeding beyond the limit, warn if the car is close to running low on fuel, and it even has a “Do Not Disturb” feature that would put calls and text messages on hold so teens won’t pick up their phones while driving.
So if you’re worried that your teen doesn’t wear their seat belt when driving, or has a knack of driving like he’s in a game of Grand Theft Auto, owning a Ford and having a MyKey may just put your mind at ease.
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5. Safety system
Still on the topic of unruly drivers in your family, Tag N Go’s GPS Safety System may be the key into finding out how the rest of the drivers in your family act behind the wheel. Just plug in the Family Car Tracker in the car to get insight on their driving behavior. It calculates your Drive Score for every trip, with detailed information on where and how to improve driving safety relative to speed, acceleration, cornering, and breaking habits.
It also features engaging social media tools, real-time location tracking, and the ability to analyze past trips, which makes the system the most advanced telematics solution on the market today. With its driver evaluation feature, it is very useful for driving schools, as it will make it easier for them to assess how well or poorly the student driver is doing and know exactly what they’re doing wrong.
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4. Moody cars
At the Tokyo Motor Show, Toyota unveiled the FV2, a car that changes color according to the driver’s mood. The car is still in the works, and a lot of kinks have to ironed out especially when it comes to accurately determining the mood of the driver. But this is a really cool concept. If cars flash the color of the driver’s mood, it would be easy to dodge drivers who are under the influence of road rage.
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3. Self driving cars
Nissan is one of the automakers promising to deliver fully autonomous or self driving cars by 2020, but Volvo is already testing its autonomous cars in Gothenburg, Sweden. These cars will be tested on public roads, alongside non-autonomous vehicles.
As for Nissan, its working hard on its Safety Shield, an advanced, proactive approach to safety issues based on the idea that cars should help protect people. It provides various measures to help the driver and passengers better avoid dangers in ways that are optimized for a wide range of circumstances that the vehicle may be in, from “risk has not yet appeared” to “post-crash.”
Safety shield will allow cars to automatically recognize if a lane is closed, change lanes on its own, merge when needed, do away with blind spots, apply brakes when needed and detect danger.
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2. Smarter roads
The UK is working on turning its A14, the busy road connecting Birmingham and Felixstowe, into a super highway by connecting it to the internet. The project will install a network of sensors along the 50-mile stretch of the A14 to monitor traffic by sending signals to and from mobile phones in moving vehicles. The aim is to decongest traffic.
But smarter roads need not always be connected to the internet to be more useful, as they can be equipped with wireless chargers so electric vehicles can juice up while on the go, while waiting for passengers, or even while parked.
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1. Smart panels
Car batteries can only last a few years, while electric vehicle batteries only last for miles. Volvo and the Imperial College of London is working on a project that would transform the panels of future vehicles into batteries. The panels will be made using a combination of carbon fibres and a polymer resin to create a very advanced nanomaterial and structural supercapacitors.
The reinforced carbon fibres sandwich the new battery and are molded and formed to fit around the car’s frame, such as the door panels, the boot lid and wheel bowl, substantially saving on space. The material is recharged and energised by the use of brake energy regeneration in the car, or by plugging into a main electrical grid.
The energy is transferred to the electric motor, which is discharged as it is used around the car. Tests show that the material is able to charge and store energy faster than conventional batteries while remaining strong and pliant.