Smart Cars Sense Hazards
by Donna Tapellini
2:00 a.m. Apr. 16, 2001 PDT
NEW YORK -- When you walk into a cavernous convention center and see a
car standing upright on its heel (well, actually its trunk), twirling in a
spotlight and surrounded by reverent young men, you know you've stumbled on
the New York Auto Show.
Filled with 2002 models of every car brand from Pontiac to Aston
Martin, this year's show also featured a car lot's worth of concept autos.
These laboratories on wheels let manufacturers and engineers show off the
cutting-edge technologies along with gasp-inducing designs and revved-up
engines.
Volvo chose to focus on safety with its aptly named Volvo Safety
Concept Car (SCC). Sit in the driver's seat of the SCC, and a sensor
automatically seeks out your eyeball. Once it makes contact, the car
adjusts to accommodate your size, moving the floor (and seat), steering
wheel, console and gear lever to your comfort level.
For night driving, light, of course, is crucial. Volvo goes beyond
high beams/low beams, combining traditional headlights, fiber optics and a
computer, so the car's lights can adjust to your driving speed. At slower
speeds, light is shorter and wider; as you go faster, the light beam gets
narrower and longer.
If you've ever locked your dog in the car overnight, or feared that
someone was lurking in the back seat while your car was parked in a dark
lot, you'll appreciate the heartbeat sensor that's built into the remote
keypad.
Pre-program the Volvo Personal Communicator with trip routing and
personal health information -- if you find yourself in an emergency
situation, that info gets transmitted to the Volvo On-Call Plus Center.
Other features include rear-mounted cameras for better visibility and
a collision warning system.
While progress in electric cars is not coming in leaps and bounds,
many auto manufacturers have either launched hybrid combustion/electrical
engines or are gearing up to do so. Mazda's concept model, the MX Sport
Tourer, features a "Zoom Zoom" button on the steering wheel.
Press it while the car is running on the combustion engine, and it
starts up the electrical engine at the same time for an extra boost. (The
Sport Tourer looks good too, with a multi-panel roof that retracts back
like a traditional convertible roof, or forward to turn the rear end of the
vehicle into a pickup truck-like space.)
Nissan, meanwhile, is testing two electric vehicles in Europe and
Japan. The Hypermini is a two-person "city commuter" that runs on a full
lithium-ion battery. It goes at speeds up to 50 miles per hour and lasts
about 50 miles before needing a charge, says Nissan product specialist
Kenneth Paul.
The larger UltraEV fits three or four people, tops out at about 70 mph
and has an 80-mile charge range. Paul predicts the UltraEV will be the
first of the two to hit U.S. shores. "Americans don't get into super
sub-compacts as much as Europeans do," he says.
You don't need a concept car to take Nissan's trip computer for a test
run. Built in to the 2002 Altima, the trip computer has eight functions: an
odometer, two trip readings, outside air temperature with ice warnings,
driving time, average fuel economy, distance to empty and average trip
speed. And all that info is literally at your fingertips, with a remote
control located on the steering wheel.
The new Altima includes several innovative safety features. Its active
head restraints were built to prevent whiplash. The headrest is locked to a
long bar inside the seat. The bar has a pivot point about halfway down, so
if your back pushes hard into the seat because of a collision, the rest of
the seat quickly and automatically pushes forward to catch your head before
it snaps back.
The 2002 vehicle will also include front and rear head curtains. A
replacement for side air bags, the curtains unroll from the roof of the
car, coming between the driver/passenger and the doors instead of hitting
them from the front like a traditional air bag. That feature makes it safer
for small children.
An increasing number of car manufacturers are offering navigation and
GPS systems in their cars. Safety concerns have pushed many to use
voice-based navigation instead of screens, which have been shown to cause
more accidents, especially at night.
Most are still using CD-based systems, but Nissan will move to
DVD-based with GPS starting with the new Q45. Audi plans to switch to DVD
with its 2003 models, but for now, it's using an 11-disc, voice-based
system that costs $1,280 for the system and one disc. Each additional disc
is $180, although with 2002 models all discs will be included for one price.
Audi is also beginning to install smaller, digital Motorola phones
that are voice-activated and hands-free.
Oldsmobile turned to OnStar for its navigation system. (Audi also uses
OnStar for emergency road service.) Depending on the package you choose,
you get just about all the Internet functionality you'd need in a car,
including the ability to look up ATM locations, hotel and restaurant
information, and pick up e-mail and headlines. You can also get vehicle
tracking if your car is stolen, as well as system diagnostic tools.
When Lara Croft (aka Angelina Jolie) gets behind the wheel of the Land
Rover-built "Tomb Raider Defender" in this summer's upcoming Tomb Raider
film, she too will have access to the hottest new navigation system and all
manner of gadgets to take her safely through the challenges of being the
first female computer-game superhero. The rest of us will have to settle
for mere mortals' cars.
Justin........
My hindsight is 20/20.........
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