With so many cutting-edge features revolutionising the car industry, choosing the right car can seem overwhelming. This article will guide you through the best tech features that you can take your pick from in 2024 or will be able to soon.
Infotainment for Drivers
Infotainment tools that integrate seamlessly with driving experience feature heavily among the best tech features for drivers today, making for streamlined driving experiences that are uninterrupted by fiddly buttons and knobs.
Connectivity with Advanced Driver Assistance Systems, smartphones, apps and sensors may even start to link with other vehicles and urban architecture. Large, high-resolution touchscreens and features include voice recognition and split-screen functionality.
Recent tech developments have included in-vehicle gaming, next-gen car assistants and multimedia streaming, with strategic partnerships between carmakers and software companies at the forefront. Built-in wifi hotpsots allow drivers to connect with passengers’ devices to the internet, keeping the whole car entertained together on journeys.
Seamless Connectivity
Manufacturers are increasingly building connectivity into the driving experience for new car owners, enabling them to interact more fluidly with their environment and other vehicles, improving vehicle safety.
Huge improvements in the accuracy of geolocalisation to find stolen cars are being made, thanks to connected devices and IoT using wireless technology. IoT devices such as sensors, cameras, GPS and telematics are cloud-connected and help gather real-time data, providing a safer and smarter driving experience. Manufacturers including Hyundai and Kia plan to introduce IoT features to new models.
Digital data and remote diagnostics enable vehicle health reports, telematics and live directions. These not only improve safety for drivers but help insurance companies provide more tailored, insightful solutions.
Driver-Assistance
Cars featuring Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) reduce driver fatigue by automatically maintaining a safe distance from the car in front. Some new models feature advanced ACC systems that come to a complete stop and restart in traffic jams.
Lane Departure Warning and Lane Keeping Assist (LKA) systems assist drivers by detecting lane markings and triggering an alert to drivers drifting unintentionally. LKA can then steer the car back into its correct lane.
Another great safety tech innovation is Automated Emergency Braking which detects potential collisions and automatically applies the brakes, leading to the avoidance of potential accidents or at a minimum, lessens their impact wherever possible, at the first opportunity.
Head-Up Display is another useful safety tool helping drivers keep their eyes on the road ahead by projecting important information such as speed and safety alerts onto the windshield within easy sight.
EV and Hydrogen-Driven Cars
Advancements in EV technology are pushing even more boundaries in 2024, and shaping the future of sustainable transport.
Great strides are being taken, such as vehicle-to-grid automation (whereby EVs give back the power they have generated to the power system). The battery of the Ford F-150 Lightning, for example, enables it to become a mobile generator, providing power for short periods to worksites and even homes. Though currently not available in the UK, it does demonstrate the direction the industry is taking.
Plenty of work is also being undertaken by car manufacturers to develop better charging support and heat management of batteries.
And for drivers currently still in two minds about electric cars, hydrogen fuel-cell cars may just clinch the deal. These models recharge faster and have up to five times the range of other EVs. Though there are only currently two hydrogen cars on sale in the UK, several car manufacturers have hydrogen firmly in their sights for future production. The two models available in the UK currently are the Hyundai Nexo and Toyota Mirai
Autonomous Vehicles
The Department for Transport (DfT) predicted that self-driving cars could be on UK roads in as little as two years’ time when announcing that the Automated Vehicles Act 2024 had received Royal Assent on 20 May 2024.
This technological innovation reduces the level of human involvement in operating vehicles and has been evolving fast recently. The government wants to see British firms at the forefront of this sector, estimated to be worth £42 billion.
Autonomous vehicles can provide a range of game-changing functions, from revolutionising logistics and public transportation to helping improve driver and public safety by assisting drivers who become unwell or fatigued at the wheel (which can be detected by recognition systems and AI).
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