What technology are we still waiting for ?
Discussion
If we're not just talking car technology, the thing I want to see is wireless power or at least batteries that last so long that charging becomes largely irrelevant. The mess of wires running to my coffee table for charging our laptops, tablets and phones etc. really annoys me as they gradually get more and more tangled.
kambites said:
Removing wing mirrors would be of significant benefit to aerodynamics and hence fuel economy.
How much difference would it really make over a well designed mirror? Can't be more than a few percent difference in drag surely? Then you have to consider how much effect the drag coefficient of a car has on fuel economy in normal driving compared to all the other factors so it's not a few percent more MPG if you see what I mean.Edited by T0MMY on Saturday 20th December 12:49
RemyMartin said:
Cold fusion, if ever mastered would change humanity forever. Can't ever see it happening though.
I've no doubt that at some point we will discover or perfect a technology that produces energy so efficiently it's basically free, assuming we exist for another few thousand years as a species. It does pose an interesting question in terms of what economic effects that would have doesn't it. Rear view cameras are much better than mirrors. They can overlay the trajectory for parking, they are much much brighter so you can see a lot better in the dark, they don't get bloked when you have three people sitting in the back and as has been said they make a huge difference to airflow.
T0MMY said:
How much difference would it really make over a well designed mirror? Can't be more than a few percent difference in drag surely?
Can manufacturers spend millions try to remove a few percent of the drag. 
Tesla claim 3-6% of their cars' drag come from the mirrors (and are apparently planning to replace them with cameras soon).
I'd trade all the advances in this and that technology for a vehicle which didn't have some tiddling fault when it's ten years old, say, where fixing it involves buying some electronic part from the manufacturer the cost of which is out of all proportion to real life and makes the vehicle potentially an uneconomic repair.
mwstewart said:
Variable compression ratio and camless engines in mainstream cars.
Current valve timing tech allows for different effective compression ratios already by leaving the intake valves open. Though the piston must still move through its usual range. Really when you think about the ICE, I'm surprised we still use them. Over 100 years old and all we manage is high 30s low 40%s efficiency. In some special cases 50%. There are so many stick on pieces of tech just to make them work somewhat efficiently and cleanly. Think of it this way... We're still moving about by way of a series of explosions. Sounds rather archaic. Sounds good of course, if you have more than 4 cylinders, but still archaic.
I say this as some one who works on engines and the many stick on technologies devised to keep them working and improving. It's diminishing returns IMO, they will be ditched at some level at some point in my life time.
Otispunkmeyer said:
Current valve timing tech allows for different effective compression ratios already by leaving the intake valves open. Though the piston must still move through its usual range.
Really when you think about the ICE, I'm surprised we still use them. Over 100 years old and all we manage is high 30s low 40%s efficiency. In some special cases 50%. There are so many stick on pieces of tech just to make them work somewhat efficiently and cleanly. Think of it this way... We're still moving about by way of a series of explosions. Sounds rather archaic. Sounds good of course, if you have more than 4 cylinders, but still archaic.
I say this as some one who works on engines and the many stick on technologies devised to keep them working and improving. It's diminishing returns IMO, they will be ditched at some level at some point in my life time.
The reason they are still in use and will be for some time to come is that the fuel they use use is very energy dense, easy to store and handle and quick to refuel. Little else comes close.Really when you think about the ICE, I'm surprised we still use them. Over 100 years old and all we manage is high 30s low 40%s efficiency. In some special cases 50%. There are so many stick on pieces of tech just to make them work somewhat efficiently and cleanly. Think of it this way... We're still moving about by way of a series of explosions. Sounds rather archaic. Sounds good of course, if you have more than 4 cylinders, but still archaic.
I say this as some one who works on engines and the many stick on technologies devised to keep them working and improving. It's diminishing returns IMO, they will be ditched at some level at some point in my life time.
T0MMY said:
If we're not just talking car technology, the thing I want to see is wireless power or at least batteries that last so long that charging becomes largely irrelevant. The mess of wires running to my coffee table for charging our laptops, tablets and phones etc. really annoys me as they gradually get more and more tangled.
You can get charging mats now so you just sit your gadget on it and it charges. How about a charging garage floor for your electric car?Edited by T0MMY on Saturday 20th December 12:49
We've not solved how to lift stuff our of the gravity well of a planet in any kind of efficient way. We require enormous rockets that are essentially disposable. Once we got to a far off world and landed we'd have had to have taken an enormous rocket all the way there just to get back off.
There are so many technologies required to make space exploration, even within the confines of our own solar system, remotely practical I can't see us ever doing it.
I reckon that the ones doing space exploration will be the AIs. Once they've outgrown any need for us maybe they'll be interested in the physical universe. Maybe not.
But we haven't got AIs. Yet. That one I see coming. It'll take another hundred years but we'll make them because we can't go on making software the way we do.
So we're waiting on AIs.
There are so many technologies required to make space exploration, even within the confines of our own solar system, remotely practical I can't see us ever doing it.
I reckon that the ones doing space exploration will be the AIs. Once they've outgrown any need for us maybe they'll be interested in the physical universe. Maybe not.
But we haven't got AIs. Yet. That one I see coming. It'll take another hundred years but we'll make them because we can't go on making software the way we do.
So we're waiting on AIs.
eldar said:
rovermorris999 said:
Cheap, high-capacity batteries for electric cars. Until we do, electric cars are literally not going very far.
This, and not just for cars.Riley Blue said:
How about tyres that have a red ply so that as they wear the colour changes and it's obvious to everyone that they've reached the minimum tread limit?
This makes a lot of sense.AW111 said:
HTP99 said:
Isn't there some air blast thing that has been shown on a concept car in the last few years; literally, high pressure air is blasted onto the screen to keep it clear of water?
Rear view mirrors, both inernal and external, are a bit old school, I know that camera arrangements have been show on concept cars, I guess they are expensive until they become mainstream, it only needs one manufacturer to do it and the rest will follow.
The problem with cameras is the loss of depth perception. You are effectively going from stereo to mono vision.Rear view mirrors, both inernal and external, are a bit old school, I know that camera arrangements have been show on concept cars, I guess they are expensive until they become mainstream, it only needs one manufacturer to do it and the rest will follow.
Even though I work in the industry, personally I don't want to see new technology in cars, active suspension/steering/exhaust, with multiple modes? I'd rather have a well set up passive system.
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