The future of cars undoubtedly seems exciting. Up to this point, cars were viewed primarily as a convenient method of transportation. The main advancements were made in reliability, safety, performance, and overall comfort. However, the advent of the internet and artificial intelligence unlocked a whole new field of progress in the auto industry.
An automobile of the future is not just a machine for driving to your desired destination. It’s a fully automated system that makes all the decisions for you while you enjoy the latest content on its premium audio-visual system.
Want to change the route? Just give a verbal command and the cars of the future will know what to do. Worrying about crashing or getting a citation? The vehicles of tomorrow will carry self-driving software that is so reliable, humans do not even come close.
Reducing carbon emission is another crucial challenge for the car industry. Electric and hybrid cars, with their replicable batteries, seem like a convenient solution. However, future cars could rely on even more advanced fuels.
To learn more, here’s a briefing of the captivating statistics that discuss what lies ahead:
Cars of Today
- In 2016, the number of passenger vehicles produced globally surpassed 70 million.
- There are over a billion cars in the world at the moment.
- More than 90% of households in the US own at least one car.
Near-Future of Cars
- The future of cars looks bright considering that 6 out of the 20 biggest R&D spenders in the world come from the automotive industry.
- The Volkswagen corporation leads the way, with $15.8 billion spent in 2018.
- Heads-up displays and augmented reality (AR) seem to be all the rage for the near future. It’s expected that by 2020, nearly 70% of car manufacturers will introduce some sort of AR.
- In-car speech recognition is another major trend. 79% of customers consider Apple’s CarPlay either a “must-have” or a “serious consideration” when choosing a vehicle.
Eco-Friendly and Electric Cars
- The future of electric cars looks bright too. It’s expected that they will make up 23% of all new vehicles sold globally by 2025.
- That will be significant progress compared to 2016 when just under 1 million electric vehicles were sold.
- It’s estimated that the transition to alternative fuels will reduce road-based pollution by 60%.
- Even solar-powered cars can be a reliable ride. Dutch-made Lightyear One can cover 400–600 km with a single charge.
- Future electric cars will carry extremely reliable batteries. For instance, Tesla Model S/X batteries keep 91% of their capacity after 168,000 miles.
Connected and Self-Driving Cars
- Cars that allow you to connect to the internet and link devices such as phones and tablets are already here. Most new car models have at least some smart features.
- That’s why the estimate that by 2020, 22% of all cars will be able to connect to the internet doesn’t seem far-fetched.
- The future of self-driving cars is also thrilling. The predictions are that by 2030, about 70% of new vehicles will have some self-driving features.
- The potential savings that self-driving vehicles bring are massive. Just the cost of fuel consumption could drop by 40%.
- On top of that, public safety spending could shrink by $234 billion.
- However, it’s the human lives that matter most. Automated cars could reduce the number of traffic-related deaths by 90%.
