Tag: tech

New tech with old tech

We are in 2022. Technology companies are changing pretty much every industry. The automotive industry is experiencing a considerable change in the way consumers buy new cars and also what they buy.

Usually, car manufacturers with hundreds of years of experience produce and develop new vehicles, sometimes dictating or creating new segments.

Volvo’s infotainment system

Nowadays, a tech company can launch, develop and manufacture a new car in a few months or just a couple of years, with an immediate response from consumers eager to buy new and different products regardless of being new players in the market.

Basically, we are driving giant computers, but even if the process of building a car has been expedited or the entry barriers are much more accessible; there is always older components or ways of doing things.

Giant touch screens everywhere, power windows, power seats, electric everything; but there are few things that no one has pay attention to. What about the seat belt, still the same since 1959 when Volvo introduced the concept in the Amazon 120, the globe box, windshield wipers, the sun visor, even the way we open the hood is still the same from years ago.

Tesla Model X

I want someone to revolutionize the industry with a new vision and concept, not just bench seats facing forward; we need something different, adaptive chairs, other configurations, a lounge interior. Something more futuristic on its own without the old tech.

The revolution is in process, but the best is still to come

Less is more…

Let’s talk about minimalism in the auto industry. Decades ago auto manufacturers competed not only for the best exterior design or performance, they also compete for interior design, practicality and who could give more information.

The cockpit used to resemble those in airplanes, the more buttons, dials, gauges the better. Some specialty companies only built quality gauges and precision instruments for high-end manufacturers.

I remember that more buttons mean more features. Nowadays with technology evolving everything is turning more minimalistic, the concept of less means more is taking the car industry by storm.

Maybe driven by tech companies entering the auto space or maybe because of a more straightforward approach for less distracting driving.

The clean design, fewer dials, gauges and buttons mean more room for storage; a center screen controls everything. A less distracted driver has been born but, simultaneously, more dependent on technology.

Some manufacturers are rethinking the way a proper steering wheel should be. At what point surrendering all the control to a screen is going to be the norm?