TABLE OF CONTENTS Up to this point, this book has been discussing automotive electronic technology of the recent past or present. This chapter speculates about the future of automotive electronic systems. Some concepts are only in the laboratory stage and may not, at the time of this writing, have had any vehicle testing at all. Some of the system concepts have been or are currently being tested experimentally. Some are operating on a limited basis in automobiles. Some of the concepts that were included in the corresponding chapter of the previous editions of this book are now in production automobiles.
Whether or not any of the concepts discussed here ever reaches a production phase will depend largely on its technical feasibility and marketability. Some will simply be too costly to have sufficient customer appeal and will be abandoned by the major automobile manufacturers.
On the other hand, one or more of these ideas may become a major market success and be included in many models of automobiles. Some of these systems may even prove to be a significant selling point for one of the large automobile manufacturers.
The following is a summary of the major electronic systems that have been considered and that may be considered for future automotive application. For convenience, these ideas are separated into the following categories:
Engine and drivetrain
Safety
Instrumentation
Navigation
Communication
Information
Diagnosis
The latter three categories listed above fall under the term telematics whenever that function...
