With the announcement that all petrol and diesel vehicles will be banned, we’re left wondering what inventions we’ll be driving in 2040. Consumers and manufacturers have often dreamt about the car of the future, but it seems like now they will be forced to innovate and provide futuristic vehicles sooner rather than later. So many questions remain: will the main mode of transportation even be a vehicle, or will we have hover-boards by then?
Electric vehicles have been on the market for some time, and with diesel and petrol engines forbidden, this seems like the obvious progression. Cars could look almost the same on the inside and outside, yet just have a different power source. Most popular electric cars today are hybrids – so designers may have to work a little harder to ensure battery powered cars offer users the same performance without the help of fossil fuels. Vehicle fuelled by hydrogen fuel cells or biomass could also be a possibility, so the mechanics of cars will be significantly different.
Many experts agree that by the time 2040 comes around, we’ll have autonomous vehicles. Self-driving cars are already in the first stages, but questions still remain around their safety. Would these issues be resolved in 20 years? If so, the car of the future will almost definitely be self-driving, offering accident prevention technology and opening up a new world of travel. After all, most new cars these days can park themselves – so it’s just a few more steps until it’s fully self-functioning.
Will I even own a car?
In addition to the mechanics and design of future vehicles, we have to ask ourselves whether car ownership is an outdated model and destined to die along with petrol and diesel engines. If we do have intelligent self-driving vehicles to use, then surely not everybody has to own one to have at their permanent disposal? A self-driving car could be the taxi of the future, summoned by an app to take you wherever you want to go. It could be a new public or private transport system which makes motorists, as we know them, extinct.
The future of driving is unclear, but exciting!