When Will We See The Flying Cars?
By: Simranjot Singh
Tags: Cars, Autonomous Cars, Technology, Self Driving Cars, Flying Cars

I am not a car savvy person, but I’m a big fan of German cars, and every time I have to drive one of those, it’s a heavenly experience. On the other end, American cars feel like they were designed in the 1980s and are not due for an update until the 2030s. The famous proverb for the luxury German car brand is absolutely true :

“There is no substitute for a Porsche — except another Porsche”

The original German car models’ seemingly timeless design remains immediately recognizable; only connoisseurs can spot the subtle differences.

P.S: I drive a 2011 Volkswagen Polo Trendline and I couldn’t be happier with that beauty.

Transformers and Need for Speed Era

I grew up playing ‘Need for Speed’ and watching ‘Transformers’ cartoons. ‘NFS Most Wanted’ is my all-time favourite amongst the entire series. It has the perfect mix of vehicles, and it’s the first game with cops, and I loved that chase. I’ve put so many hours into that game, trying to make my way up “The Blacklist 15,” escaping from cops and racking up bounty from every pursuit I get into.

Bumble Bee, a cute old yellow 1967 Volkswagen Beetle from Transformers, was my childhood love — a scout later turned into a warrior and later on a police officer after the war against Decepticons.

Photo by Arseny Togulev on Unsplash

When I was in school, I always wondered if it would be possible to have cars that will have their own brains and transform into a superhero when something bad happens on this earth? For me, an alien invasion was the maximum I could have thought about, and I really believed that Decepticons exist in the real world, and my neighbour's uncle’s car is one of them. But as I grew up, my perception changed.

The Inspiring Hooptie Movies

In college, movies like Fast and Furious and the James Bond series introduced me to an entirely different world of ‘cars and technology,’ which changed my thinking process. Suddenly, cartoons and video games started making sense. To explore more, I started reading about the super-advanced engines, sensors and compared them with everything I saw in those movies.

I noticed that some great minds and companies are already working on these revolutionary products and are on the verge of massive automotive technology breakthroughs.

Photo by Henrik Hjortshøj on Unsplash

In the same year, I got a chance to work in my college team called “Fateh” (Fateh is a Hindi word which means “Victory”) where we designed ‘Formula Racing Cars,’ and I got hands-on experience on driving that ‘beast’ which weighed less than 500 kgs and could reach 100 kph in under four seconds. It felt like I am playing the ‘NFS’ with no cops (good for me, though), and it was a surreal experience.

Technological advancement in the automotive sector has not limited itself to designing super-fast engines or designing luxurious cars. Nowadays, autonomous vehicles are a hot topic among automobile makers, and you can see new models better than the previous ones in ‘Auto Expo’ events across the globe. Various car manufacturers like Tesla and tech giants like Google are in this race. They are trying to develop fully autonomous self-driving cars that will assume all driving functions from the driver.

Rise of AI and IoT in Automotive Sector

Even though the developments have been made in this area, a fully independent vehicle is still to be developed, and if I can get a chance to drive an ‘NFS car’ in real life, I am sure that this milestone is not too far. Along with different proximity sensors and cameras, cars are now integrated with IoT systems to reduce human error and make driving more comfortable and safer.

Photo by Timur M on Unsplash

Introducing the IoT technology is the ‘cherry on the cake,’ which has infused semi-autonomous cars while partly controlling the vehicle operations to avoid accidents and reduce the driver's load. Will you trust a driverless car? Well, in my opinion, they might lack moral judgment during accidents, but there are many other optimistic perspectives to investigate it.

For example, it can disrupt the public transportation system as it will eliminate the complicated and expensive operational steps like background checks of new cab drivers and every day’s drug testing, which will definitely reduce the harassment cases reported against cab companies, which are all over the news nowadays.

In my 5 years of professional experience, I was fortunate enough to work for automotive companies like Autoninja and Cardekho, where I witnessed the shocking and unprecedented changing trends in the automobile industry, which is now one of the fastest-growing markets for IoT-based solutions.

As per reports, by 2020, more than 250 million cars are expected to be connected, highlighting the impacts of IoT in the automotive industry. Drivers worldwide can expect their vehicles to become ‘smartphones on wheels,’ as the Internet of Things is already proving car connectivity to be the most promising futuristic technology. That day is not too far when we’ll see flying cars over our homes, just like Star Wars and drive like a Mandalorian.