Future Tech - Improving the Cars of tomorrow

10 technologies that could improve the cars of tomorrow

Camless engine

Reducing or eliminating friction will make future internal combustion engines more efficient. One of the biggest losses in energy occurs in the camshaft and its drive gears, chains or belts. The spinning camshaft is the valve-actuating mechanism that controls fuel intake and exhaust cycles.

In a camless engine, the valves are opened and closed electronically. Unlike mechanical systems, which give fixed amounts of valve travel and timing, an electric or electrohydraulic device can move valves independently to any lift position for any duration desired.

The introduction of camless engines has been stalled because engineers need to find another power source to move the valves. But competing technologies are moving forward, including a hydraulic system that uses magnetic field electrical energy to hold valves in position.

Who’s working on the technology: BMW, Camcon Technology (UK), DaimlerChrysler, Dana, Eaton, Ford, Honda, International Truck & Engine, Lotus Engineering, Navistar, Ricardo, Siemens VDO Automotive, TRW Automotive, Visteon, Valeo

When will it reach the market: By 2010

LED headlights

Light-emitting diodes are long-lasting, energy-saving sources of light. Automakers have begun to use them in taillamps and interiors. Now LEDs are poised for use

in headlights.

Unlike ordinary lamps, which either heat a filament white-hot or pass a high-voltage charge through a gas to make it glow, LEDs do not require a vacuum bulb or high voltage to work. LED headlamp assemblies could take less room, require fewer access points for wiring harness or bulb replacement, and can run more efficiently than ordinary headlamps.

Eventually, thin LED lamps may become stick-on assemblies. Prototype LED headlights have achieved 1,000 lumen output in low-beam mode, similar to the bright light of a xenon gas headlamp.

Audi plans to offer its R8 supercar with optional LED low- and highbeam lights, daytime running lights and turn signals when it debuts in Europe next year.

Lexus says the LS 600h will offer optional LED low beams and parking lights when it arrives in Europe in the middle of 2007.

Who’s working on the technology: Guide, Hella, Lumileds, Osram Opto Semiconductors, Schefenacker Vision Systems, Visteon, Valeo

When will it reach the market: Europe, starting in 2007; other markets by 2010

Vehicle-to-vehicle communication

If cars could talk, they might warn one another of what their crazy drivers are about to do so that poor driving behavior wouldn’t lead to crashes.

Welcome to the world of vehicle-to-vehicle communication. About 40,000 European test vehicles are wired to transmit traffic data to information collection centers, but the next step, direct car-to-car communication, is waiting for a dedicated wireless frequency to be chosen and assigned.

Developers want to create a virtual network on wheels that would monitor signals from brakes, steering, stability control and other systems so that a skidding or stopping car can send out signals to nearby vehicles. This communication would be between vehicles only; drivers would not be overloaded with information. For the system to work properly, from 5 percent to 10 percent of all vehicles on the road would need to be equipped to communicate. A 2011 date has been cited as the earliest possible startup in Europe, but only if auto companies begin equipping cars within the next two years.

Who’s working on technology: Fiat, GM, several EU automaker and supplier coalitions and groups including SAFESPOT, Car2Car, Hitachi Sophia Antipolis Lab

When will it reach the market: After 2011

Hydrogen fuel cells

Hydrogen-powered vehicles could ease reliance on petroleum and reduce global-warming emissions from cars. Whether used to power fuel cells or internal combustion engines, hydrogen promises a cleaner future fuel than gasoline or diesel.

Used in a fuel cell, hydrogen gas combines with oxygen across permeable barriers in the stack to produce electricity, forming water as the byproduct.

The electricity powers motors and charges batteries to store power. Some experimental fuel cell vehicles are on the road. Honda intends to produce a new limited-production fuel cell vehicle in Japan, the second-generation FCX, within the next four years. BMW plans to have about 100 hydrogen-fueled 7-series sedans on the road by 2007.

The technology has its limits: Hydrogen is hard to store and even harder to retain.

Who’s working on technology: Argonne National Laboratories, Ballard Power Systems, BASF, BMW, Chevron, ConocoPhilips, Dana, DaimlerChrysler, Delphi, DuPont, Energy Conversion Devices, Freudenberg-NOK, General Electric, GM, Honda, Motorola, Nissan, Siemens, Teledyne, Tenneco, Toshiba, Toyota and many others

When will it reach the market: Maybe by 2020

Cameras that replace rear-view mirrors

Side-view mirrors are a design and efficiency challenge for cars and trucks. They’re one of the largest sources of exterior drag, wind noise and buffeting. They can be destroyed when hit by other vehicles’ mirrors or when scraped against garage door frames or other objects. Ice, snow and mud build up not only on the mirror but also on the side window glass to obscure the driver’s view.

Chip-based video cameras mounted inside a much smaller housing could solve many of these problems. The cameras consist of a silicon microchip assembly behind an optical lens.

Often seen on concept vehicles, the solid-state cameras so far have not been successfully implemented for mass-market side-view use.

An essential safety system, side-view mirrors are also subject to varying amounts of government regulation and must not fail.

Choosing where a side-view camera would display images is one challenge; another is finding a way for the display to show without blinding the driver with white light at night, or being dim and muddy in strong daylight.

The strong market acceptance for back-up cameras in SUVs and luxury cars offers hope the technology could take over soon from mirrors. Lessons learned with rear-vision cameras will help make the side-view applications more robust.

Who’s working on technology: ASA Electronics, Audiovox, Delphi, Global AME, Grote Industries, HitchCAM, Magna, Pioneer, Rostra Precision Controls, Valeo

When will it reach the market: By 2010

Retractable controls

The revolution that has disconnected pedals from direct linkage with major mechanical, moving parts already has offered adjustability in many formerly fixed controls. The next step is one in which steering wheels, pedals and other intrusive hardware can stow away when not needed, freeing interior space and making the vehicle a more pleasant environment when at rest.

Concepts, such as the Renault Wind (right) and Johnson Controls’ Ariston, have featured retractable controls.

Advances toward truly retractable systems are being made by power-adjusting pedal developers such as Dura.

Who’s working on technology: Tier 1 suppliers

When will it reach the market: When fuel-cell vehicles replace conventional vehicles

Replaceable cabins

In the early days of automobiles, buyers purchased a running chassis and then coachmakers built a custom body to ride on the frame. General Motors revitalized the idea in 2002 with its hydrogen-fueled skateboard Autonomy concept car (right), demonstrating an underbody, powerplant and running gear that could accept a variety of cabins.

Few owners would have the space or desire to buy and keep different car bodies hanging in their garage, but the idea of exchanging coachwork would offer dealers, suppliers and the car companies an additional revenue source. The advent of electric steering, braking and engine control systems makes such swaps increasingly possible.

Who’s working on technology: GM

When will it reach the market: Just before flying cars are mass produced

Plug-in hybrids

For hybrid technology to have full impact, the cross between a gasoline-electric vehicle and an all-electric vehicle must be available to drivers.

That means the ability to charge hybrid batteries by plugging them in (right) to take advantage of inexpensive, low-pollution power from the electric grid. What’s preventing this from happening is the need for lighter, more-powerful and cheaper batteries.

Who’s working on technology: DaimlerChrysler, GM, Toyota

When will it reach the market: Within 10 years

Biometric technology

-based locking devices have been available from aftermarket suppliers for years and on selected cars, such as the Audi A8. In the future, in car biometrics could recognize the driver and adapt to the driver’s condition based on a profile built up over many driving sessions. Detecting a drowsy or distracted driver by comparing his normal driving profile with current behavior may offer safety advantages.

Who’s working on technology: Delphi, Fujitsu, Hitachi, biometric security specialty firms

When will it reach the market: Within five years

Rear-impact protection

Imagine your car could prevent a rear-end collision before it happens. Such technology is available in Japan and slated to appear in Europe before the end of this year.

Last month in Japan, Toyota began offering a radar-based rear precrash safety system on its Lexus LS 460. The LS for Europe will offer the system at launch later this year. If the radar detects that the car will be hit from behind within 1.5 seconds, it flashes the car’s hazard lights to warn the approaching vehicle. If that vehicle doesn’t slow, it then activates an intelligent headrest (above, right) on the driver’s seat within one second of the anticipated impact. The headrest uses sensors to determine the location of the driver’s head, and then extends the headrest forward by up to 2.4 inches, just short of touching the driver’s head. The goal is to reduce neck injuries.

Future rear-collision prevention systems might be able to predict outcomes, measure opposing traffic and selectively enable systems to minimize crash damage to the receiving vehicle – possibly by deploying a type of airbag.

Who’s working on technology: Delphi, Faurecia, Intier, Johnson Controls, Lear, Magna, Toyota, TRW Automotive, Visteon

When will it reach the market: Europe, later this year; rest of the world, within two years

Source Automotive News

Related Articles from GO on the Road

• Report envisions 3 billion vehicles