While the wildest dreams of flying cars have us envisioning a future worthy of the Fifth Element, current trends project us a little less far, but still tomorrow. Here are four of these moves that are shaking up the industry and enabling us to envision the vehicles of tomorrow.
Cars differentiated according to their use
The goal of all car manufacturers seems clear: it is about moving towards a vehicle that pollutes as little as possible. From design to use, including on-board technology, an entire industry is reinventing itself, as evidenced by the recent reorganization of the Renault Group that led to the creation of a 100% electric subsidiary called Ampere.
This projection to a zero-emission vehicle may have other implications in the future. Among them a greater specialization. In any case, this is the vision of Patrick Koller, Managing Director of Faurecia, a company of the FORVIA group, the world’s 7th largest equipment manufacturer, which relies on technology. According to him, ” We can imagine vehicles that will specialize according to their usage situation. In urban areas we will have more small cars with a short range, around 200 km, which will have a smaller capacity, simpler and safer electric batteries, and which are easier to charge. Outside these urban areas, for people living in rural areas, with the possibility of recharging at home, there will be larger vehicles that can carry larger capacity batteries and will have an autonomy of about 500 km. Finally, there may be cases of multiple use, in peri-urban areas with more or less significant distance variations. These users will switch to hydrogen and we will witness a battery/hydrogen hybridization that will make it possible to respond to the variety of situations that arise. » A form of differentiation of future vehicles according to their use, allowing each driver to benefit from the best according to his needs.
More sustainable and modular cars
” It does not seem tenable to me to have an economic model in which the car loses its value as quickly as it does now. A car today can travel 200,000 kilometers without any problems and after 3 years is only worth 30% of the original price. It does not make any sense ! », notes Patrick Koller. His company is determined to respond to this by adopting the mantra Use less, use better, use longer (use less, better and longer). A conviction: it is quite possible, thanks in particular to the electrification of mobility, whether battery-powered or hydrogen-powered, to significantly extend the life of vehicles. And thereby opening up new ways to adapt to this new standard. Modularity will become the keyword and will cover all the equipment of a car, for example to have the possibility to add seats or new functions, change and rearrange the space as needed.
” If we keep a car for ten years instead of four or five years, the interior will have to evolve, adapt to new needs. If you buy a car as a single person and have two children 10 years later: you no longer need the same car. Being able to evolve the interior of the car as we do with a kitchen, for example in an apartment or a house, becomes central. Custom made with standard objects. illustrates Patrick Koller. The leader expects usage to redefine equipment and vehicle interiors to be the subject of new consumer expectations.
This idea of modularity and component life cycle is also central when we question the equipment supplier’s vision of the car of tomorrow. Christian Haase, Vice President Design and Development at HELLA, explains that ” components such as headlights can be locked, meaning they can be removed at the end of the vehicle’s life and used elsewhere “. An innovation that would mean a very significant reduction in car waste and a much easier way of recycling. Replacing parts when they no longer work, instead of scrapping the car, could become the norm tomorrow. As a result of these developments we should move towards more maintenance and predictive maintenance through connectivity should emerge.
The car of tomorrow is electric and (a little) autonomous
For Christophe Aufrère, Faurecia’s Chief Technical Officer, it is a certainty: the car of tomorrow will be electric. ” We have moved from electrification to the electric car. There will be battery and hydrogen vehicles or a combination of both. For hydrogen, the trend is utilities to private vehicles. We are working on more “compliant” storage systems, which will replace the batteries. If we succeed in this, the share of hydrogen vehicles will be larger than we currently consider.. “.
The machine builder anticipates the automation of driving. This will change the lives of passengers in the vehicle. Level 2 is becoming increasingly popular and level 3, where the driver can be “eyeless”, has recently appeared in certain top-of-the-range cars. Level 4, “eyes off, mind off” can be considered in certain driving configurations, for example on protected roads such as the highway. However, autonomous driving everywhere for all use cases seems hard to replace.
” We underestimate if not the fun but the desire to drive, it is not to be underestimated says Patrick Koller. In addition, the cost of autonomous driving is also likely to be a drag, he warns: ” You have to imagine the complexity of full autonomy everywhere, it can cost a fortune”. Autonomous driving can also have virtues to make driving more accessible: “Finally it will be possible to offer alternative solutions for people who cannot drive. Some people do not have a driving license, such as epileptics, they will eventually be able to regain this right because the car can accommodate any seizures. »
A car industry subject to uncertainties
For his part, Yann Brillat-Savarin, executive vice president responsible for FORVIA’s strategy, points to a trend that would result from the strategy to reduce emissions: a regionalization of models. To save transportation of materials, tomorrow’s vehicle models will rely more on locally sourced supplies or, because materials are somewhat heterogeneous or available in different quantities from one region of the world to another, it means that the models are not fully will be identical from one region to another. In other words, we are moving from a uniformity of vehicle models to a kind of regional heterogeneity.
Finally, the automotive industry evolving in a constantly changing and complex environment, the scarcity and competition of talent, as well as changes in the business model, should also have significant consequences that will profoundly change the car of tomorrow.
Challenges that concern the entire sector, to build an innovative and sustainable industry together.
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