New Tech in the Auto Industry 

If you look at sectors where tech has taken off, the car industry would be pretty high on your list. We are not just talking about flying cars—although yes, they are really a thing!

Car tech is something that affects all of us as we are all so dependent on our cars for daily living. Most drivers have heard of autonomous vehicles, self-driving cars, but there are plenty of other exciting developments going on in the motoring sector. Here are a couple to whet your appetite.

V2V – Vehicle to Vehicle Communication

V2V is a new technology that allows cars to communicate with one another, objects around them, and even the road. So, what’s the point of that?

This autonomous vehicle tech will help reduce traffic accidents and driver and passenger fatalities. It compensates for human error, lack of judgement, or complete failure in certain situations on the road.

If you look at injurylawpalmbeach.com, you can see that many personal injury claims arising out of accidents on the road are due to driver error or misjudgement. V2V technology provides an early warning system to a driver and can even apply the vehicle’s brakes in the event of an imminent collision.

In December 2012, the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) unveiled a proposal to require all car manufacturers to install this technology to increase driver safety and provide valuable data on why accidents occur. It hasn't moved to enforce V2V tech as a policy, but the safety concerns suggest that changes may come soon to the auto industry.

NHTSA believes this could reduce crashes by 80% and, crucially, this could prove an essential building block in the quest for the ultimate driverless vehicle.

This is also a relevant technology for how vehicles respond to objects around them apart from other cars. There has been a pilot program in Europe called Compass4D under which ambulances, buses and cargo trucks will be able to turn red lights green.

Solar Cars

Next to driver and pedestrian safety, energy efficiency and green credentials are hot topics for car makers.

EVs or electric vehicles are not a new idea, but many motorists are put off by the high purchase price mostly caused by the development and size of the lithium-ion battery.

It is also not lost on many people that these batteries incur a huge carbon debt in production.

A solar car would be cheaper to put on the road and avoid the problem of a large and heavy battery made in a non-environmentally friendly way. Also, with energy prices continuing to soar, EVs with batteries are starting to look far less attractive if you have to pay to charge your car and don’t have a home with solar panels or wind generated electricity.

Conclusion

Most drivers are interested in the twin principles of safety and energy efficiency, so it's worth keeping a close eye on technological developments in the automobile industry. V2V tech and solar are the two areas car makers are really focusing on, which may transform how we drive.