The future of automobiles is getting closer every day.
German auto maker Mercedes Benz showed off a “car of the future” prototype self-driving car in California on Wednesday and futurist and Steve Jobs wannabe Elon Musk’s new Tesla Model S is getting an autopilot mode within the next few months.
It’s only a matter of time before we’re all sitting in a living-room style automobile, sipping slow-brewed coffee and reading the latest social news from our iPads as we zip along to our next appointment or meeting, right?
Because as Musk famously said: “Someday, driving a car will be illegal.”
The F015 — Mercedes-Benz’s moniker for it’s sleek, egg-like prototype — won’t even be available until 2030, but boy is it stunningly futuristic. Check out the interior, designed to be more like a living room than the inside of a car, and the flowing, rounded curves of the exterior body in the promo video below.
https://youtu.be/DYTV4d-Gn0s
It’s not just the self-driving aspects that Mercedes wants to focus on, even though that seems to be the hot button for many a consumer, but rather the space inside the automobile.
“The car has high-resolution screens in almost every interior panel, uses premium leather, wood and metal, and features eye-tracking and touch-control to minimize passenger effort,” Mercedes’ Holger Hutzenlaub told USA Today. “We’re creating a personal retreat.”
Add me to the list of folks who want to retreat to that interior.
Photo: CC Wikipedia
Electric car visionary Elon Musk’s Tesla Model S is a vehicle that’s available for purchase today, offering 300 miles on one charge and some pretty sweet flip-up doors. According to Engadget, the Model S is getting a new autopilot mode that’s more like cruise control for steering. It only works on highways instead of residential or city streets, but will come as a software update to current Tesla cars within the next three months.
Seriously, a software update will let Tesla Model S owners ride highways without touching the steering wheel. Where can I get one of these?
Ultimately, software will get better and cars like the Mercedes F015 will arrive. Hopefully, we won’t see a ton of accidents or injuries from these machines, or draconian legislation to prevent them from getting on our roads and into our driveways. The future is coming and this is one bit of it I’m pretty excited about. You?
