Future car technology: the innovations about to shape the way we drive
Here’s a round-up of the exciting new technology that's on its way, with some set to debut as early as this year
The development of automotive technology is accelerating at an unprecedented rate. Every year there are new gadgets, ‘must-have’ accessories and legislative requirements that are changing the way we interact with our cars. But not all new tech is good tech, so to cut through the noise, here’s a list of the best features coming our way.
E-ink - BMW
AS seen on a few BMW concepts over the past couple of years, e-ink is essentially the same technology that’s used for the screen on a Kindle device. It has low energy consumption and its display is robust, which means it could be used on the outside of the firm’s future models to change the colour of individual body parts such as a grille or entire panels.
Unlike a traditional digital display that uses LEDs or LCD technology to create an image that’s then backlit, e-ink uses an electrophoretic film containing microcapsules the diameter of a human hair. Each capsule contains differently charged white, black or coloured particles, which become visible when an electric field is applied.
BMW says this technology is well on its way to appearing on production vehicles, such as the Neue Klasse models launching from later this year. It could be applied across the car body to match the colour of the car to your mood.
Full-width HUD - Hyundai
Nearly everyone’s doing head-up displays (HUD) in 2025. After all, the technology has been around in one form or another for decades. But Hyundai wants to push the tech much further, with some help from German optoelectronics expert Zeiss. This system takes current head-up display technology and pushes it to the extreme by applying it right across the base of the car’s windscreen.
This is achieved thanks to Zeiss’s new glass technology, which keeps the image sharp and easy to see no matter the time of day or how reflective the sun or street lights are. This is vital if a head-up display is to eventually replace a traditional information display.
The key thing here is that the front passenger can also view content from the HUD, but, as with some current dashboard displays, it will show a different set of information, such as the weather, text messages or even a film, if large enough.
Airless tyres - Michelin
Michelin is working to end punctures with a new form of airless tyre technology. While tyres have improved massively over the past 100 years, their underlying structure is largely unchanged, and still comes with the same fundamental risk of depressurisation.
Airless tyres negate this issue altogether, ensuring that a tyre can be used throughout its entire wear cycle, rather than potentially being discarded if punctured. As well as saving you money, this would also reduce wastage.
Michelin’s solution uses a complex three-dimensional rubber and fibreglass structure throughout the tyre. What this will do to a car’s handling characteristics is still up for debate, but there may well be some compromises. It’s this requirement to make it feel like a seamless change that has made development such a drawn-out process – Michelin’s airless Uptis prototype tyre was first unveiled in 2017.
External displays and communication devices - Afeela
Car manufacturers love putting as much information as possible at the driver’s fingertips, but now brands are looking at how to communicate to people outside and around the car through external displays. While the technology is still being developed, Honda’s collaboration with Japanese electronics giant Sony has brought the technology to life on the front of its yet-to-be-launched Afeela EV.
Called the media bar, it sits between the headlights under a separate panel. For now, a system like this could only be used when the car is parked due to strict legislation around automotive lighting, but it can still show things such as charge status. As legislation relaxes, though, it could be used to display information on the move, such as sports scores, weather forecasts and traffic conditions.
Steer-by-wire - Lexus
Arguably the most transformative future automotive technology is steer-by-wire – essentially the removal of a physical connection between the steering wheel and the front wheels. Many makers have tried, but it’s still only on the cusp of being introduced because of the extensive development required to make the system both safe and trustworthy.
Tesla is the only manufacturer to have applied it to a production car, but Infiniti briefly introduced it with a secondary back-up physical rack and pinion still in place in case the electronics failed. Lexus has revealed its RZ with the technology, but it is still not available to buy.
Why is it so useful? Aside from making the production of left and right-hand-drive models easier, it also allows for much greater flexibility in the packaging. This means the designers and engineers can technically place the driver’s seat and steering wheel almost anywhere.
3D printing - Divergent
Mainstream 3D printing has been established in many fields for the past few decades, but only now is it starting to make some serious inroads to the more complex manufacturing you’ll find in automotive applications. California’s Divergent is one of the companies leading the charge, supplying 3D-printed aluminium suspension components to brands such as Bugatti and Czinger.
The benefit of 3D printing is the ability to create parts that are as strong as possible, while removing all the extra material that isn’t needed to retain that strength. Computer programs create complex, almost biological-looking components that form key suspension or chassis parts, printed in titanium or aluminium.
Bugatti uses this technology for the suspension in its new Tourbillon, but Czinger has taken it one step further in creating whole sub-frames, wheel carriers and even brake calipers.
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