QS2
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Registered: 03-2006
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Car of the future?
I just ran in to this article , which combined with this invention, mean that suddenly hydrogen fuel cell cars no longer seem quite as unlikely. This is because it would completely eliminate the need for platinum for the production of hydrogen or the operation these vehicles. never the less hydrogen storage at the moment remains a complicating problem.
Of course there is still competition from the all electric cars as a future propulsion to cars, like this one or this one. Which are in production or soon will be, though high battery prices continue to make them a somewhat expensive to buy vehicle compared to the current gasoline cars.
Which leads us to the question, which one do you think might become the vehicle of the future?
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8/4/2008, 9:14 am
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Loud G
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Registered: 01-2005
Location: Maryland, USA
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Re: Car of the future?
Awesome!
I vote for the Aptera, mainly because it LOOKS like cars after the year 2000 SHOULD look 
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8/4/2008, 12:24 pm
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Firlefanz
Lady of the Land
Registered: 05-2003
Location: Germany
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Re: Car of the future?
Aside from that car, what do you think cars should look like in ... say, 30 years?
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8/4/2008, 2:51 pm
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Reythia
Knight of Honor
Registered: 11-2005
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Re: Car of the future?
quote:
Firlefanz wrote:
Aside from that car, what do you think cars should look like in ... say, 30 years?
*shrug* I'm still sort of anti-car. Not just because they're (at the moment) bad for the environment or whatever, but because they're boring to drive and sit in. Plus I hate staring at highways and roads when I could be looking at nature. So I'd actually be happier to see more effective mass transit, or at least a reduction in the need for cars 24/7, than cleaner, prettier-looking cars.
But then, I freely admit that I'm biased on the matter! 
---
-- YAR!
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8/4/2008, 6:33 pm
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Loud G
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Re: Car of the future?
I can totally agree with you there Reythia.
In environmental debates I often take the "ban all cars" position for the fun of it and because it gets a GREAT reaction.
Though part of me does pine for a simpler life with more mass transit.
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8/5/2008, 3:41 pm
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QS2
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Re: Car of the future?
I'm hearing a lot of unhappiness with having to pay attention to the roads while going somewhere, but it just so happens that DARPA is already working on something to solve this problem for you. Which is the self driving car, to quickly summarize it, the idea is to make a fully automatic car which you just tell where to go and it will figure out how to get there. Wether this is on road, offroad, no matter the traffic situation etc etc. Obviously still a work in progress, but in 30 years who knows, maybe the car won't be as bad as you think anymore? If only perhaps because this idea makes it a bit more like a kind of personalized mass transit. 
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8/6/2008, 3:00 pm
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Reythia
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Registered: 11-2005
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Re: Car of the future?
Yeah, I've heard of the technology, QS. They were testing a similar technique for landing commercial airplanes some time back. I think it's definitely something that will end up getting done, and you're right, I think it would be more enjoyable than actually driving (though there are many who would disagree).
The thing is, that STILL means I'd have to ride in the dump car. And that's almost as bad. True, now I can read a book or cross-stitch, but I'm still STUCK there. I have long legs and bad knees, which makes enforced sitting really annoying and mildly painful, so I do my best to avoid it when possible. Even a self-driving car wouldn't help that.
I'd really like to completely alter society so we got into the habit of actually living NEAR our works and thus had to drive (or be driven) less. Of course, this would mean one of two things: spreading out the population so that there were many moderate-sized towns and no gigantic ones, or else building only high-density quarters in very large cities and then instituting excellent mass-transit systems. Any other technique means lines in traffic and long commutes, both of which I'd consider undesirable.
Of course, since ALL I want is a total re-do of society and infrastructure, this shouldn't be at all hard to accomplish! 
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8/6/2008, 4:25 pm
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Blitzen
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Registered: 12-2004
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Re: Car of the future?
I don't think a self driving car would have to be car shaped on the inside. Form follows function; self driving cars wouldn't need pedals/steering wheels/gear sticks, so there'd be more space, and the seats would be comfier.
All the seats may face the middle, where'd they'd be a table. Perhaps on the table would be a 4D projection TV (I'm making this up now) a projector which forms an image above it, a cube screen so no matter which end you look at, you see the picture.
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8/6/2008, 8:02 pm
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David Meadows
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Registered: 09-2003
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Re: Car of the future?
I agree with Reythia. I'm anti-car because they just aren't nice things to sit in. At best the y are a necessary evil. I get a train and a bus to work, and when the bus sits in the (inevitable) traffic jam at the end bottle-neck end of the business park I work on, I can read my book and laugh at all the car drivers stuck around me . But I would much rather be able to walk to work and spend my traffic-jam-sitting time reading on the beach after work instead.
Last week I was at the motor show in London, set in a HUGE exhibition centre with hall after hall of car display stands. (I must quickly point out, I didn't go for the motor show -- I went for the evening concert, and the ticket gave me free motor shop admission, and I had to walk through it to get to the concert venue.) So I walked through hall after hall of sleek and shiny cars, and thought... well, ok, they ARE very shiny, but this is still basically just the same as walking through a car park. What are all these people DOING here? 
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8/7/2008, 8:46 am
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Firlefanz
Lady of the Land
Registered: 05-2003
Location: Germany
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Re: Car of the future?
I would agree that it's much nicer and healthier to live in an environment that allows or better even supports walking, bicycling or even scating as preferred methods of getting from A to B. In fact, I very much enjoy being able to do just that where I live. Busses and trains are also very good alternatives, and I enjoy using those when distances become too far for walking.
However, I believe that cars cannot be completely banned. There are good reasons for having something like them, but I think their number should be greatly reduced. For those that are still needed, alternative fuel system or propulsion systems are coming online faster than people thought. And that's great!
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8/7/2008, 10:26 am
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Reythia
Knight of Honor
Registered: 11-2005
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Re: Car of the future?
quote:
Blitzen wrote:
I don't think a self driving car would have to be car shaped on the inside. Form follows function; self driving cars wouldn't need pedals/steering wheels/gear sticks, so there'd be more space, and the seats would be comfier.
All the seats may face the middle, where'd they'd be a table. Perhaps on the table would be a 4D projection TV (I'm making this up now) a projector which forms an image above it, a cube screen so no matter which end you look at, you see the picture.
Well, yes and no. I mean, clearly if the car steers itself, you can take out the pedals and steering wheel, yes. And at that point your car becomes a mini-bus. Which, as Meadows points out, means that at least you can read or do something else pleasant instead of having to stare at the butt-end off traffic. But really, a bus or train seat isn't so much nicer than the passenger seat in a car.
And there's a reason for that, of course: safety and efficiency. Vehicles take power to move, and the smaller and more steamlined you make the vehicle, the less power it takes to move it the same distance. So cars, buses, and trains all look vaguely similar for that reason. Even if the car drove itself, that overall "breadloaf" shape isn't likely to change. Details could, of course -- but those details could change now (and are, actually). So the total volume of the car isn't really dictated by the fact that a person drive it.
The inside of the car is where changes could take place. Besides the steering equipment going, there are a lot of other ways to use that space than what we have now. Blitzen mentioned one which sounds sort of fun:
quote:
All the seats may face the middle, where'd they'd be a table.
But think about it. We could really do that now, at least in the back seat of a minivan. Okay, right now, the driver's seat is pretty much fixed due to its purpose and probably the front passenger's seat also, but the back seats aren't. So why don't we have a table with a TV on it and movable chairs in the back seat of minivans or larger cars?
Safety, mostly. First off, in today's world, the greater movement in the backseat and the TV blaring could distract the driver. But that's a pretty bad argument against it because kids move around a lot anyhow and we've already got cars with TVs installed in them (and I could go off on a rant about the foolishness of that, but that's not really the point here). In any case, if the car drives itself, that's not relevant.
But safety still is. Let's pretend that your autopilot is AWESOME and never makes mistakes and goes off the road, and always knows how far away other cars are. (This is feasible, by the way, though we're not there yet.) Even in such a situation, accidents ARE possible. Imagine a deer jumping out in front of your car. Imagine a car in front of you blowing a tire. Lots of things -- TRUE "accidents", not just human mistakes -- are still possible, even if a computer drives the car. We know what happens in conventional seats in such a situation. But what happens when you're all sitting any-which-way in your seats watching TV and *BAM!* your computer slams on the break to avoid that deer. If you're sitting sideways, your seatbelt could snap your neck. Or... do you even HAVE seatbelts? If not, you just went flying through the front window.
And there's another thing: even if your car doesn't have a steering wheel, it WILL still have a "front" and a "back", unless you totally change the wheel-and-axle system below it, at least. In any case, there will be a "front" in the sense of "the current direction of motion", and that will be relevant. Ever met someone who gets carsick? Trust me, she will NOT appreciate it if you make her face backwards or -- worse -- at a diagonal to the direction of motion. MESSY.
So while I think small changes can be (and should be) made to the interiors of cars, I don't see huge changes as very likely, much though they would be nice. Certainly, I think the first few generations of TRUE automobiles will look very much like the people-mobiles we now drive. For better or for worse.
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8/7/2008, 4:49 pm
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