10 Bits Of In-Car Tech We Can Expect By 2020

Out of car technology has changed the way we learn to drive. Nowadays pretty much every learner will be able to avoid the need for books and study guides – getting the material for free online instead – while some even use hi-tech simulators to be able to pick up some of the essential skills required for the road in a virtual setting.

Bu what about in-car technology? Pretty much every car owner will have noticed technology creeping in to their vehicle in some way – but as things stand the potential outweighs what is available to drivers. But, what will the next five years bring? Here’s ten things coming to a car near you by 2020…

1. Biometric Vehicle Access – We’ve had keyless entry cars for several years, but take it up a notch and you have Biometric Vehicle Access. It may sound a little ‘sci-fi’ but using your fingerprint to open a car may soon be a reality.

2. Active Health Monitoring – With this in-car technology, your safety will be the number one priority. The steering wheel can track your vital statistics and can alert the paramedics if you were to have a health emergency.

3. Vehicle-to-Vehicle Communication – Vehicle-to-vehicle communication or V2V is an upcoming technology that allows cars to communicate each other. This could warn you of a possible collision with a vehicle or even cause your brakes to set in to automatically prevent a collision.

4. Self-driving cars – This car technology is already being tested right now, and we can expect it to be the ‘big thing’ that manufacturers work towards in the next five years. Fully automated vehicles may well not be the norm by 2020 but there we=ill undoubtedly be a few in use.

5. Active Window Displays – An excellent Head-Up Display (HUD) will be available by 2020. Cars with active glass will be able to display vibrant images which can provide the driver with important information – extending the capability of the humble dashboard.

6. Advanced Airbags – Airbags are not new to use, but airbags that are capable of stopping cars is a whole different level. Mercedes is developing an air bag that is placed underneath the car, which will stop the vehicle before an impact.

7. In-Car Marketing – By 2020, Forbes reports that the internet will be fully accessible from your vehicle. With that comes advertising opportunities. Those catchy ads that you hear on the radio could be re-born and become a part of your in-car tech.

8. Lightweight Body Panels For SUVs – SUVs will no longer be considered heavy and bulky, thanks to lightweight body panels that are capable of retracting.

9. AR Dashboards – Augmented Reality Dashboards may look like something out of an action film, but you can expect it to be available in a few years. Cars will now be able to identify objects on the road that will be displayed, and drivers can get information about them right on the windshield. Pretty useful if drivers want to know the opening hours and cost of a car park, for example.

10. Driver Override Systems – A combination of some of the technology outlined above and the development of new sensors mean that ‘driver override systems’ are a very real possibility. This could mean the car kicking in and braking if you get too close to an obstacle or parking up for you.