The Crittenden Automotive Library

Car companies have failed to evolve sufficiently

Car companies have failed to evolve sufficiently

Matt Hubbard
Speedmonkey
March 12, 2013

Automotive companies have failed to evolve the car sufficiently. We suggest some areas they might want to think about spending R&D budgets on.

Compared to the constantly improving and evolving technology industry the automotive industry has singularly failed to evolve the car, beyond nibbling away at efficiency, power, weight and a bit of tech. Whilst we have £400 smartphones that contain more computing power than NASA used to launch the first man to the moon cars have barely evolved beyond 4 rubber tyres, some seats and an engine that burns fossil fuels.

You may think that a Mercedes S Class is the height of sophistication, technological advance and the auto industries finest achievement but it still weighs more than two tonnes, is built from steel and burns a gallon of fuel every 30 miles or so. And when you drive over a nail the tyre goes flat and it won't travel any further.

Yet modern cars are filled with technology we don't actually need. Electronic parking brakes, seats that move as we go round corners, engine noises played through the stereo, automatic gearboxes, Stop/Go systems, dual mass flywheels, dual zone climate control. None of these are necessary. Some fulfil regulations, others are purely automotive back slapping.

Car manufacturers need to focus on technological leaps and bounds rather than spending R&D on tinkering away at devices that weigh the car down yet are hardly, if ever, used. Here are some suggestions, and gripes. Let us know what you'd like to see on cars of the future.

Tyres

Come on auto manufacturers and tyre companies! Really? We still drive around in cars that rely on rubber filled with compressed air to give us the grip we need and make the ride comfortable - and that need changing every 10,000 miles. In 2013 this is a ridiculous concept. Run flats aren't the solution. A totally new and innovative approach is required. How about tyres filled with some kind of less dense compound that doesn't leak out when the outer layer is punctured. Complacency has failed to drive tyre technology forwards. Giant strides are required.

Drivetrains

Petrol and diesel engines and gearboxes are so antiquated as to be embarrassing. Yes they give us thrills but burning fossil fuel is automotive tail chasing. The answer lies in a combination of hydrogen and electric engines, which at least some manufacturers are latently thinking about. Which leads us on to the next thing.

Batteries

Battery technology has barely evolved. 4 hours charging for 250 miles driving. That's ridiculous. A massive global competition is required to improve and overhaul electricity storage capacity and charge time.

Weight and materials

We still make cars from steel. Steel might possess high strength properties but it is heavy and it rusts. We need space age materials. Carbon compounds, resins, anything but heavy old steel. The only thing Chris Bangle has ever done right is the BMW Gina concept which used flexible material instead of steel to for the car's body. More thinking like this is required.

Interior plastics

Expensive car's interiors are clad in lovely looking, and feeling, leather. Cheap cars interiors contain acres of cheap, moulded plastic. Most of it looks hideous and, given plastic is made from fossil fuels, not exactly eco friendly. How about some kind of stiff, modern, recycled cardboard type material. Anything but elephant-hide plastic.

Technology integration

Most people take their smartphone into their car. Contained on that smartphone is sophisticated satnav, the drivers own music choices, email and other comms and social media. With touchscreens appearing in even the most basic models why don't we have full smartphone integration via bluetooth? Some apps are appearing in some cars but it's all very clunky and not exactly smooth or easy to use, and doesn't make full use of the phone's features.

Remote software updates

Modern cars contain many electronic systems, most of which are pretty useless but some are essential to the ongoing running of the car. Once they leave the factory they are never touched again. Compare iPhone software from a few years ago to that of today. If, say, Fiat's engineers discover how to improve bhp, mpg or CO2 five years after the release of a particular car why is there no facility for the owner to download a software update to freshen their engine and other components?

Cylinder shut down

Only available in some high end cars. We don't use or need the full power from the engine when coasting or braking, so why not shut down most of the cylinders. V8s are great. A V2 is fine when trickling along at 40mph behind a Honda Jazz. This is so easy and cheap to implement it's madness that it hasn't been adopted as a mainstream technology already.