Cars and the future.......

dave289 · 13-12-2009, 03:32 PM

I remember when I was in year 12 at school in 1988(ah the good ol days) and buying the lastest copy of wheels or motor magazine.(yes I used to also traul the the trading post at that age dreaming of something great for me to one day buy). anyway I remember the ea falcon had just come out and not long after was the vn commodore. Both cars at the time had advanced greatly over the previous model .For the first time they both had standard 4 wheel disk brakes on the base model. They both had fuel injection and power steer ,electric mirrors (ALTHOUGH THESE WERE,NT FIRSTS). I thought to myself that it seems like what other advancements are there for cars , to which I thought well there does,nt really seem to be that much .boy was I wrong , I cannot even think of all the advancements that they now have 20 years later.

Question is ,what can I expect in the next 20 or so years. to my current thinking I now expect to be driving an electric car and expect most others will to. sure I,ll keep my 67 xr v8 ,and if I can still buy petrol will hopefully take it out on occasions(may need to stock up like mad max). Now I really dont like the idea of and electric car anymore than the next ford forum average member does, but as I look in the dec issue of motor magazine( am I still buying these things) I come across a car called the Audi E-Tron( a car it seems I would be not only be very happy to own and drive but something to be proud of.
It is basically an r8 based plug in car that audi plans to make a production reality(IF ANYONE HAS SOME PICS, POST AWAY). It looks like not only something from the future but also something from the past ( a little bit like the effijy, which is one holden I would kill for)anyway it puts out 233 kw and 4500 nm of talk .yes thats right 4500nm- which they say needs to be scaled back drastically so that full acceleration does,nt peel the tread of the tyres. so it seems things may not be all that bad. so what do you expect to see from cars in the future and would you drive an electric car?

just to drag things on even more(sorry), my mates audi s5 has a fob which you leave in your pocket ,the cars opens automatically when you approach ,you just sit, press a button and she starts up, no keys ,nothing ,then a button to stop, he then gets out walks away and it locks when he is about a few meteres away. I wondered if we could expect that on a falcon or commi before too long.this guy I know had same set up on his toyota sportivo which is cheaper than most falcons.or one step further was the r8 which I was told had finger print recognition to start the car.

Franco Cozzo · 13-12-2009, 03:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dave289

I remember when I was in year 12 at school in 1988(ah the good ol days) and buying the lastest copy of wheels or motor magazine.(yes I used to also traul the the trading post at that age dreaming of something great for me to one day buy). anyway I remember the ea falcon had just come out and not long after was the vn commodore. Both cars at the time had advanced greatly over the previous model .For the first time they both had standard 4 wheel disk brakes on the base model. They both had fuel injection and power steer ,electric mirrors(ALTHOUGH THESE WERE,NT FIRSTS). I thought to myself that it seems like what other advancememnts are there for cars , to which I thought well there does,nt really seem to be that much .boy was I wrong , I cannot even think of all the advancements that they now have 20 years later. Question is ,what can I expect in the next 20 or so years. to my current thinking I now expect to be driving an electric car and expect most others will to. sure I,ll keep my 67 xr v8 ,and if I can still buy petrol will hopefully take it out on occasions(may need to stock up like mad max). Now I really dont like the idea of and electric car anymore than the next ford forum average member does, but as I look in the dec issue of motor magazine( am I still buying these things) I come across a car called the Audi E-Tron( a car it seems I would be not only be very happy to own and drive but something to be proud of. It is basically an r8 based plug in car that audi plans to make a production reality(IF ANYONE HAS SOME PICS, POST AWAY). It looks like not only something from the future but also something from the past ( a little bit like the effijy, which is one holden I would kill for)anyway it puts out 233 kw and 4500 nm of talk .yes thats right 4500nm- which they say needs to be scaled back drastically so that full acceleration does,nt peel the tread of the tyres. so it seems things may not be all that bad. so what do you expect to see from cars in the future and would you drive an electric car? just to drag things on even more(sorry), my mates audi s5 has a fob which you leave in your pocket ,the cars opens automatically when you approach ,you just sit, press a button and she starts up, no keys ,nothing ,then a button to stop, he then gets out walks away and it locks when he is about a few meteres away. I wondered if we could expect that on a falcon or commi before too long.this guy I know had same set up on his toyota sportivo which is cheaper than most falcons.or one step further was the r8 which I was told had finger print recognition to start the car.

Give it 5 years and you'll probably start seeing a lot of this stuff filter down into Ford/Holden, like the key thingo.

Rev28K · 13-12-2009, 05:25 PM

Electric motors have massive torque from low speeds so acceleration should be good if the car has some form of Continuously Variable Transmission. Unless there are jumps in the way power is produced the world looks as if nuclear is one of the “green” options for producing clean power cheaply.

I’d like to see battery technology take a jump up so that they use less nasty innards and quick re-charging and the electric motors in the wheels get smaller/lighter so there is less unsprung weight.

If all of this happens there will be less need for LSD’s, much greater freedom with packaging, and transmission splitting left/right and fore/aft.

I’d love to have a small light car with a large amount of torque in 20 years time. A 2WD Tesla Mk 10 or a Fisker Mk 8 weighing 650-700kg with the weight carried very low would do me.

burnz · 13-12-2009, 05:36 PM

well you've allready got tesler..http://www.teslamotors.com/
but i keep thinking along the lines of demolition man "movie"

but ill miss the V8 burble when we are forced to drive battery jobs.

Spudz27 · 13-12-2009, 05:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by burnz

well you've allready got tesler..http://www.teslamotors.com/
but i keep thinking along the lines of demolition man "movie"

but ill miss the V8 burble when we are forced to drive battery jobs.

No you won't, there will be an attatchment you can add to give you the V8 rumble.

**SSD-85** · 13-12-2009, 05:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EDfutura25

No you won't, there will be an attatchment you can add to give you the V8 rumble.

Yeah, and it'll be an mp3 file built into the cars' stereo. And it will suck

:

rag top · 14-12-2009, 10:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scotty85

Yeah, and it'll be an mp3 file built into the cars' stereo. And it will suck

:

but the aftermarket tuners will have updates to include a range of extras, solid lifters, gear drives, turbo, superchargers, quad webbers,...

burnz · 13-12-2009, 05:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EDfutura25

No you won't, there will be an attatchment you can add to give you the V8 rumble.

as in compact disk?? to drown out that jetson noise.

dave351cid · 14-12-2009, 12:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EDfutura25

No you won't, there will be an attatchment you can add to give you the V8 rumble.

can i order mine with a top fueler sound track for the traffic lights, a nice deep clevo rumble for cruising, and quiet festiva sound for going past the nieghbours when i come home late at night.

auxr · 14-12-2009, 12:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dave351cid

can i order mine with a top fueler sound track for the traffic lights, a nice deep clevo rumble for cruising, and quiet festiva sound for going past the nieghbours when i come home late at night.

Yes - and you also may have a plastic shaker to place on the bonnet that will also be battery operated.

Seriously though - vehicles of the future will be changing due to climate change regulations that will eventually be put in place - for my 2c worth, there will still be a mixture of hybrids,diesel, possibly hydrogen mixed together with a higher ratio of electric powered vehicles.

Car producers, though, are in the market for profit - through innovation, better engineering & technology, these things eventually filter down to the mass market - better product, cheaper running costs that appeals to a market - then equates to movement of product.

On the other hand, oil & gas reserves in my view, will still be powering vehicles well into the next century - or until the use of oil derivatives are outlawed.

trippytaka · 14-12-2009, 01:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by auxr

On the other hand, oil & gas reserves in my view, will still be powering vehicles well into the next century - or until the use of oil derivatives are outlawed.

I think if we can reduce the pressure on the resources we should be able to see this. If pressure keeps going the way it is, there will be some trouble with access to the resources... some serious conflicts methinks.

trippytaka · 13-12-2009, 10:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by burnz

well you've allready got tesler..http://www.teslamotors.com/
but i keep thinking along the lines of demolition man "movie"

but ill miss the V8 burble when we are forced to drive battery jobs.

Exactly what I was going to say!

VIDEO OF TESLA

MO · 13-12-2009, 10:21 PM

@yellow_festiva,easy to see you've never lived outside of the big smoke,you'll need more than 200klm range out of your electric car.

trippytaka · 13-12-2009, 10:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MO

@yellow_festiva,easy to see you've never lived outside of the big smoke,you'll need more than 200klm range out of your electric car.

Not for everyone, but there are some serious polluters in the affluent areas right on the city, all driving to work. Let's start with who can do it first and let the technology catch up.

*** EDIT: I live close enough to the city to make this a viable option. If it was economically viable, I'd do it.

Yellow_Festiva · 13-12-2009, 10:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MO

@yellow_festiva,easy to see you've never lived outside of the big smoke,you'll need more than 200klm range out of your electric car.

Oh clever... And what % of people do live outside the 'big smoke'? And of those people who do live outsite the 'big smoke' what percentge of those travel more than 200km each way to work...

Wonder if it falls in the 10% I had left out of the general population for variables such as you and others have mentioned?

Yes, but all of us need a vehicle that covers all possible conditions and worst case senarios 'just in case'...

Franco Cozzo · 13-12-2009, 06:00 PM

I guess LPG will still be around, you can keep your old cars if you are that way inclined. I don't mind, as long as the car is fast and is manual lol.

chevypower · 13-12-2009, 06:21 PM

An article from 2006 on an electric Mini with 640HP, 3000Nm. It gets 80mpg when using fuel to charge the batteries. A waste in a Mini though, I don't think 3000Nm would see any difference in performance between a Mini or a truck - other than the truck will get a little bit more traction.
http://www.gizmag.com/go/6104/

JACK250 · 13-12-2009, 06:28 PM

I think I'll set up a moonshine still when that day comes and set up my car to run pure ethanol

Paxton · 13-12-2009, 07:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JACK250

I think I'll set up a moonshine still when that day comes and set up my car to run pure ethanol

It is easier than you think. :baby bott

BLDNUT01 · 13-12-2009, 06:35 PM

I remember watching Beyond 2000 and thinking how cool it would be with flying cars they lied to me

bigdude1011 · 13-12-2009, 06:43 PM

I'll wait until fuel cells have matured before I give up on the petrol, though an ol' skool Mercedes-Benz running on vegetable oil sounds good

prydey · 13-12-2009, 07:01 PM

there's a bit of a saying - if you want to know what technology your average car will have in 20yrs time, look at the current mercedes s class.

Rev28K · 13-12-2009, 07:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by prydey

there's a bit of a saying - if you want to know what technology your average car will have in 20yrs time, look at the current mercedes s class.

So the electrical problems that Holden has with their VE range mirrior the gremlins that afflicted the 1990's Mercedes W140 S class?

**TUF_302** · 13-12-2009, 07:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by prydey

there's a bit of a saying - if you want to know what technology your average car will have in 20yrs time, look at the current mercedes s class.

Thats about right, the 67' merc i had was way ahead of its time, had 4 wheel disk brakes, power steering, IRS, fuel injection, the gearbox ever downchanged as you slowed, not sure what the technical term for that is lol

dave289 · 13-12-2009, 08:13 PM

One other thing I was thinking was, will there even be any petrol or deisel powered cars (being new cars) available in 20 years time. and when should we expect to see the end of new petrol powerered cars. the more I think about it, it seems like it is not so far away now.

XR6_190 · 13-12-2009, 08:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by prydey

there's a bit of a saying - if you want to know what technology your average car will have in 20yrs time, look at the current mercedes s class.

Spot on, Mercedes Benz S class has always been well ahead of it's time, First mass produced car to have seat belt pre-tensioners, airbags, radar cruise control, fuel injection, the list goes on and on.

I think the next big moves will be in fuel consumption, and alternative fuels, the next big step in particular will be Hydrogen fuel cells.

Rev28K · 13-12-2009, 07:04 PM

Geez, you guys are a bunch of Luddites!

Even though 1/2 of my cars are carby even I can see that there will be some benefits to this technology.

As much you love IC engines you just have to conceed how inefficent they are and how they are extremely good at generating wasted heat.

XR6_190 · 13-12-2009, 08:56 PM

I don't know about within 20 years, but most definitely in the next 45.

vztrt · 13-12-2009, 09:04 PM

Pure electric cars will be the future, but this wont be mainstream till they can sort out 3 main issues.

1. Get 5/600km out of 1 charge (Super capacitor batteries seem to be the way they are going)
2. Be able to charge a battery quickly (MIT has done this but it required 3 phase and lots of power)
3. Make the cars cheap, no one will change when they cannot afford it.

prydey · 13-12-2009, 09:12 PM

the current merc s class is running a hybrid system similar to the KERS (kinetic energy recovery system) used in F1.

they had a car that would brake automatically, using sensors etc to keep a safe distance from the object in front if it was moving or bring the car to a halt if it was a stationary object.

they decided to give a demonstration in a factory and invited all the bigwigs etc. long story short, something failed and the car slammed into the wall... woops. red faces that day. apparently being inside the factory affected the sensors - so they claimed. not sure if that has been developed further.

i know they have 'seeing' headlights and stuff now.