|
I see myself driving an AWD zero-emmissions turbocharged gas-electric hybrid, with a continuously variable transmission and four-wheel steering. Petroleum will still be the primary fuel, because the oil industry is too big to just fade away.
It will have electormagnetic dampers for shocks, and all drive-by-wire controls with haptic feedback ("Force feedback", like in joysticks, so you can 'feel the road')
You will be able to dial in the ride so it will drive like anything from a mostly-FWD stable commuter with a luxery ride and gentle to an AWD-supplimented RWD performance vehicle with stiffened suspension and close-ratio steering. It will have even more sophisticated skyline-like traction, stability, and ABS controls...and it will recognize the driver by the key-fob and learn their various habits (Manage drivetrain for economy vs. sport, for example) and remember their settings.
As far as safety features, it will have quite a few smart air-bags, including some external low-speed collision airbags on the front bumper and side panels of the vehicle to help it pass new 35mph minimal-injury pedestrian collision requirements that the government will have mandated. Also, it will have front looking radar, both for smart and dynamic speed-adjusting cruise control (will keep you X distance from the car ahead, or XX speed, whichever is faster) and an accident avoidance measure (will apply the brakes if it calculates that the closing rate between the vehicles will result in a collision).
Yup...that's about it. Now, if this were 50 years, I'd say lane-following and point-to-point autopilot, but i don't think they're going to get that advanced.
__________________
twisted no more
|