For decades, the car has been the all-American signifier of who you are, a declaration of independence, a place where you are master. Now American innovation is leaving this tradition in the dust. Ride hailing, self driving, data mining: Technology is taking the wheel. Enjoy the ride.
1. Self-driving cars will be everywhere
There are honest-to-goodness self-driving Ubers ferrying passengers in Pittsburgh; Baidu’s fleet of autonomous electric taxis is zipping around Wuzhen, China; and commuters in England and Sweden will start whizzing along the highways in Volvo carbots.
2. You will be tracked
Insurance companies will use smart dashcams and tracking devices to adjust your rates. And now that electric vehicles pose an existential threat to gas taxes, state governments will experiment with mileage-based taxation.
3. Power trains get a power-up
Expect 15 pure electric models to hit the US market this year, including the modestly priced and longer-ranged Chevy Bolt and Tesla Model 3. But petrol-based propulsion isn’t going away. It’s getting better. Nissan Infiniti’s insane (and insanely complex) variable-compression engine—which wrings diesel-level oomph and efficiency out of a 2-liter turbo gas power plant—goes into production this year.
4. Public transit will team up with startups
Last fall, the bedroom community of Summit, New Jersey, launched an Uber pilot program offering parking-pass holders free rides to a nearby train station. We’ll see more partnerships between ride-sharing services and public transportation.
5. Robotrucks hit the highway
Self-driving trucks outfitted by Otto—a startup Uber acquired last year—are making deliveries. The first? Fifty thousand cans of Budweiser. But truckers won’t be totally out of work yet; Otto’s rigs can self-drive only on the highway. Ten-four, good botty.
