The market for new or used cars worldwide appears to have taken a back seat, but new technologies related to cars are progressing at an incredibly fast pace. The cutting edge technologies invented today are generally offered on high end cars and such cars are bound to be expensive. However the same technology forms the mainstream cars in the coming years as demand increases and cost declines. In this feature lets us read about some latest technologies brought out in the auto industry.

Automobile engines might have seen the biggest modifications since the very beginning of the car age. The features like direct injection, variable valve timing, turbo charging, overhead camshaft and cylinder deactivation are some of the most appreciable and revolutionary engine technologies. As a result, the engines today are more powerful yet quiet, more long-lasting and more fuel efficient than they used to be. The latest engines are run on green fuels like LPG, CNG or electricity, which do not pollute the environment unlike diesel or petrol fuels. Customers are getting more conscious of the environment and the demand for such green cars or eco-friendly cars are rising gradually. Then there are hybrid cars which use a combination of two power sources and helps in lower fuel consumption. Scientists are also working on developing a hydrogen internal combustion engine which will produce more power but zero emissions.

Going beyond the standard 4 gear transmission gears, now most of the cars have 5 or 6 or even 7 gears. The recent trend is automatic cars which use transmission that can automatically change gear ratios as the vehicle moves and the driver need not bother about the same. Most of the automakers are now publicizing automatic models and the automatic car market is growing by leaps and bounds in the recent years.

Apart from the engine and transmission, most other developments are perceived in the area of comfort and safety. Innovative features like power windows, power steering, automatic windshield wipers, airbags, cruise control, anti-lock braking system and electronic brake distribution are almost taken for granted by the public nowadays. Rear-mounted radar, night vision with pedestrian detection, automatic high-beam control, parental control, GPS vehicle tracking, cameras and in-car internet are some of the other new convenient features.

Now let us look into further future car technologies. A driverless car is a concept much hyped by car enthusiasts of late. These cars are hi-tech cars which can sense its surroundings and navigate without any sort of human effort. Then Mercedes is working on airbags that can stop the car before a crash. Europe is testing whether the car’s body panels can store energy and charge faster than conventional batteries.

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