Autocar - "The Car in 2030"
Autocar - "The Car in 2030"
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mat777

Original Poster:

10,714 posts

191 months

Friday 22nd March 2013
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Did anyone else go to this debate at the UWE campus this evening? Chaired by Steve Cropley of Autocar, with a panel comprising of his colleague Hilton Hall, Thatcham guru Matthew Avery, Richard Parry-Jones, Vice President of Ford product development, and Graham Smith, MD of Toyota UK/Europe

I must say, it was a fascinating discussion with the informed wisdom of industry insiders. The consensus seemed to be a continued move towards hydribs and battery electric cars (groan), whilst beginning the introduction of hydrogen fuel cells and a uk hydrogen infrastructure (not so bad). The kicker though, was that they all agreed the next big thing coming is a fully automated car, further quashing the idea of driving for pleasure.

However, there were some good points made by several members of the audience, including me on a debate in why young drivers seem increasingly disinterested in cars. I may have used the PH classic phrases of "cars as white goods", "isolation of the driver by safety aids", and "driving for the thrill of it" biggrin

ClassicMotorNut

2,438 posts

169 months

Friday 22nd March 2013
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I can't see myself investing in a 'car of the future' unless it's steam powered. The motor industry really needs to look at steam as a serious alternative to the electric ste that they're getting all hyped up about.

SpeckledJim

34,507 posts

284 months

Friday 22nd March 2013
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mat777 said:
...there were some good points made by several members of the audience, including me...
Let me smoke you a kipper, Ace.

Fire99

9,868 posts

260 months

Friday 22nd March 2013
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If you think a car driven by a wally coming towards you, is bad, consider what will go through your mind when a car approaches driven by a microchip.

mat777

Original Poster:

10,714 posts

191 months

Saturday 23rd March 2013
quotequote all
Fire99 said:
If you think a car driven by a wally coming towards you, is bad, consider what will go through your mind when a car approaches driven by a microchip.
Well it's reckoned they will be a lot safer as they can, like a computerized chess game, work out several possible scenarios and react to the one that happens a lot quicker than a human. Like you, I'm still rather skeptical and also don't particularly want to live in an I,Robot world where manually driving is as taboo as BRAKE try to make speeding out to be