Innovation in automobiles
Looking at the automotive industry, it seems as though innovation,
real innovation hasn't happened in a long time. Sure there has been incremental improvements and there has been many great additions that have made our lives easier or better. (Try and tell a Mom who drives her kids for any distance that you are taking the DVD player out of her vehicle and you are going to face some serious wrath.) But next generation types of things seem to be a long time in coming.
I encountered an interesting one while channel surfing for cool HD content and it got me thinking about what stories are out there so here is my quick list.
- We have all heard the stories of the self driving cars using approaches like that from GM is neat idea but one that people who love to turn the twisties view with some amount of horror.
- Alternative fuels show promise and may help with future energy problems.
- Keyless cars and other innovations that are cool... but differentiating?
- Reinventing the wheel? Michelin is trying with the new tweel.
- Even cars that can go 235 miles per gallon of gas!
The thing that gone me thinking about the whole topic though was the idea of thin cars. Two people cars that lean to corner faster. One example is the Carver. Another example is the Naro. The thought of twisting and turning but taking up less space and energy could be fun. Of course in my case, my immediate reaction was "will the power to turn the tires be enough?"
