When we think of analogue, we still largely think of the analogue experience. Of course, this makes sense. When the rubber hits the road, it’s a largely visceral and real experience that has not yet been supplanted by some form of illusory digital pathway.
Optimize Your Driving Experience
In other words, driving is not yet a video game. Perhaps when safety measures are enhanced deeply and more cars are outfitted with smart computers, it will start to feel like that. But for the most part, our driving experience is relatively reliable and simple. Or is it?
Using tech to optimize your driving experience might not be out of this world as of now. Remember, we’re living in 2019, and an area where many of us take modern technological step-ups for granted. It was only extremely recently in the course of human history that reusable rockets were demonstrated as successful, after all. Let us take this kind of mindset and apply it to our current driving experience as we move to A to B. On top of that, what would an optimized driving experience look like, and how do we define the line between a necessary upgrade and something to simply distract us from our regular driving ability?
These questions are not easily answered, but we hope to do our best in that direction. Please, consider:
Safety
It’s not hard to see how safety should be at the very top of the totem pole. If you cannot improve road safety, the amount of accidents and fatalities on the road each year, and the lived experience of the drivers behind the wheel, then technology has some ways yet to go. However, we are living in an age where safety is very well considered. Through live weather and traffic alerts, we can learn about road conditions. Smart computers in modern vehicles can now inform you of your tyre pressure, oil level, and a more detailed synopsis of any internal areas that come around. Reversing cameras can help you avoid having to lean behind you and mitigate your blind spots in order to pull into a parking space. But that’s not all. Sensors can often dictate obstacles and show you driving angles to take in order to fully complete the hard turn well. This is why searching for vehicles with internally robust smart features such as this can be so useful.
There are many more quality of life changes, and not just through Electronic Stability Control (ESC) or forward collision warnings. We all take automatic cruise control into our stride in the modern day, but it’s also important to consider automatic lights. Driving on curved roads, often your vehicle lights cannot fully illuminate your curved path until you turn just a little. With this technology, curves in the roads can become illuminated a little more. And of course, lane departure warning systems can help you assess if you are traveling just a little too far from the midst of your lane.
It’s important to find cars with these modern features if they are financial feasible to you. This is because safety is always, always, always the first priority, and truly the winning formula for any new tech development in such a dangerous space.
Procurement
When we consider the future of tech and how that relates to the driving experience, we might forget the first, most important consideration – finding a car that can support this. But during this process, we may be reminded that the experience of searching for a car itself has become thoroughly redefined. For example, we can now get an exact specification for said car in a matter of moments. YouTube reviews will go in-depth, and you can remain assured that some enthusiast has tinkered with the vehicle as much as they could have, giving you the inside scoop on the internals. Sites that help you out when finding a car online also help you with aggregates and sources based on criteria you have. Perhaps you might provide this content for someone else. We’d recommend subscribing to a few vehicular YouTube channels, a few car blogs RSS feeds, and join an ownership forum for your vehicle, even if that’s simply on a website such as Reddit. Sometimes, the driving experience is not behind the wheel, and this should help you with that.
The Environment
It would be a fatal lack of insight to ignore how the environment is affected by our motoring ambitions. For that reason, any modern tech solutions must go some way to help mitigate road emissions, and to make a cleaner environment for anyone. One name stands above all others when this subject comes up, and that’s Tesla. Despite suffering some setbacks in recent months, the Tesla is still one of the most energy-efficient, near zero-emission vehicles you can buy. On top of that, investing in one of these also contributes to projects such as Tesla semi, an initiative to craft long-haul trucks that use electricity only. It’s not hard to see just how useful that could be. On top of that, solar roof systems are now being used to help avoid the continual need to charge your vehicle every 200 miles or so.
Of course, focusing on just one model of car is quite unreasonable. However, it’s not particularly the brand that we should celebrate, but the work they are doing to normalize electric vehicles and their much lower emissions in everyday life. It’s not hard to see just how powerful that could be for the future of motoring, the pollution we find in our cities, and just what we are willing to tolerate when it comes to environmental impact on a daily basis.
The Accessories
It’s often the smaller accessories that can make all the difference. Purchasing a dashcam can help prove your side in a road dispute – and evidence dangerous driving you see on the road. A mount for your smartphone can help you gain all the benefits of a GPS without purchasing a smart car or dedicated unit. Mobile WiFi hotspots can help you retain your internet connectivity even when your data runs out. A small heads-up display can be placed to grant you prescient information on your vehicle and your driving stats so far. All of this can culminate in an informed and tech-driven experience.