German luxury-car company BMW has carved a niche as the “ultimate driving machine,” but that might be the wrong message for the 21st Century.
What Americans really want is the ultimate driven machine, a car guided by an automatic pilot that safely whisks them to their destination while they read, eat or sleep.
When the Tribune recently asked readers what features they would like on their car, real or fanciful, nearly 25 percent of the more than 100 respondents named autopilot as the top desire.
The prospect of fighting urban traffic and the weather and fear of accidents made demand for an electronic chauffeur far greater than fuel economy or an alternative to gasoline, despite persistent pump prices of $2 per gallon or more. (Greater fuel economy was the No. 2 desire.)
“There are times when I would just want to tune out, sit and let the car do all the driving for me,” one reader wrote in an e-mail message.
Another said a car that drives itself would be “a dream come true.”
But readers don’t want a human chauffeur or to share the ride.
They want privacy and convenience in their mobile cocoon and don’t want to deal with other drivers.
Autopilot would make the roads safer, said Mike Myint of Chicago, who owns a BMW 528i.
“It’s a great car. If it could drive on its own, even better,” he said, noting how he sees other drivers paying little attention to traffic.
“People just aren’t concentrating on driving. They’re talking on cell phones, eating, putting on makeup,” said Myint, an information technology security consultant. “[Autopilot] would be a great benefit.”
Elements are available today, such as cruise-control systems that can slow a vehicle if it comes too close to the one ahead of it.
But Ian Turvill of Evanston would be happier to have true autopilot on rural highways, such as Interstate Highway 65 between Merrillville and Frankfort, Ind. He finds that road boring and would rather read a book.
“It’s straight, it’s flat and it takes forever,” Turvill said. “I’d pay an extra five grand for a car that drives itself on the interstate.”
Chris Dancy, media information director for the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, thinks automated highway travel would cost much more.
“You could put a second car in your garage for what they’re talking about,” Dancy said, referring to the hardware that would go on the vehicle.
An automatic pilot system that governs altitude and heading and makes turns is probably $10,000 to $12,000 to start for a small, private airplane, Dancy said.
“But that kind of system can’t determine that other traffic is around you and adjust accordingly,” he said. “You have to rely on air traffic control for that. It’s not sophisticated enough to avoid traffic.”
A system that slows, stops and swerves to avoid other traffic could easily cost another $10,000, Dancy suggested. He wouldn’t guess at the cost of the equipment that would be required on roads to control traffic.
Avi Rubin, a computer science professor at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore dismisses the notion that technology will allow a “driver” to snooze on the way to work like they can on commuter trains.
“I don’t buy the idea of a fast lane where platoons of vehicles run inches apart at 90 m.p.h.,” Rubin said. “I don’t believe we’re capable of creating that technology at a cost that is palpable.
“Even if you give it the same amount of effort as the space shuttle, remember that the space shuttle blew up. That is not something we want on our highways.”
After hands-off driving, fuel economy and related environmental concerns ranked next with readers. Their desires ranged from a midsize car that averages around 45 m.p.g. (available in the Toyota Prius) to a dream car that gets 100 m.p.g. in city driving.
Several called for alternatives to gasoline that are gentler to the environment and carry fewer political and economic risks than petroleum, such as hydrogen.
“I love cars, but we have a responsibility to our environment to get the most efficient car possible,” Chicagoan Linda Welsh said, calling the auto industry’s reliance on petroleum-fueled engines “old-fashioned thinking.”
“What we’re doing in the Middle East is a big price to pay to keep doing that,” she said.
Requests for creature comforts were priorities from others, ranging from body-hugging seats and frost-free windshields to on-board coffeemakers and refrigerators, which by logical extension prompted suggestions for in-car toilets (though no one discussed emptying them).
One of the more practical ideas, from Bob Lissak of Willowbrook, was a high-powered flashlight mounted in a charging station near the driver, such as under the seat or dashboard. Rechargeable batteries would keep it ready, and the flashlight could include red or amber lenses for emergencies.
“You’ll always know there will be a flashlight when you need it, and you’ll never lose it,” Lissak said.
Remote starting has been available for several years, but Shawn Buchanan, an electrical engineer from Tinley Park, wants the range measured in miles, not feet or yards.
His dream is to start his car with a cell phone call from the train so that when he gets off the Metra Rock Island line in Mokena, his car will be toasty on cold nights and cool in the summer.
“Right now we have OnStar that can unlock your doors through a satellite, so they should be able to do this,” Buchanan said.
Sport-utility vehicles frequently irritate drivers who can’t see around them, prompting this hostile solution: “I’d love to have a cow-catcher/battering ram so I could push back at all the monster SUVs that are driven by jerks who think they can do anything they want.”
Californian Luke Walsh offered a more innovative approach: A periscope that gives drivers of smaller vehicles a better view, allowing them to react sooner when traffic slows.
“I’ve often wished for something like that,” said Walsh, who drives a Honda Accord and wouldn’t mind sharing the road with larger vehicles “if I could just see around them.”
Walsh, a computer technician, also suggested an “hours of operation” gauge on cars, like those on airplanes and commercial vehicles, as a more realistic measurement of use than miles. An odometer reflects only the number of miles, not whether they were on the highway or in stop-and-go driving.
“Hours of operation is a much more accurate gauge of when to service the car, and it would tell someone thinking of buying a vehicle what kind of miles it’s been driven,” Walsh said.
With winter weather fresh in their minds, several readers carped about scraping the windows and complained their wipers become ineffective with snow and ice build-up.
Help is available, though mainly on high-priced models such as the Mercedes-Benz S-Class, BMW 7-Series and Jaguar sedans, which have heated washer fluid and heated “parking” areas for the wipers. Jaguar also offers an optional heated windshield.
The new Honda Ridgeline pickup also has a heated parking area on the windshield for the wipers.
Likewise, those who pleaded for heated steering wheels will find them on cars such as the S-Class, 7-Series, Jaguar XJ and Cadillac STS.
Other ideas: Body panels that don’t “scratch, ding or dent” when hit by a car door (which Saturn has addressed with plastic body panels), eye-recognition technology to unlock doors and the ignition; a built-in bike rack; and a computer that explains any malfunction and how much it will cost to fix.
Peggy Hodges doesn’t want more features on her car, she just wants to be able to reach what she has.
Hodges, who is 5-feet tall, says it was hard to find a vehicle that suited her size until she bought a 1996 Ford Aspire, a subcompact no longer sold in the U.S.
“I don’t have to sit on anything to see over the steering wheel, and all the controls are easy to reach,” said Hodges, formerly of Chicago, now of Phoenix. “I swear, cars are designed for guys 6-feet tall.”
When Carol Mattar of Oak Park watches an 88-year-old friend with mobility issues struggle to get in and out of small cars, she says, “There must be a better way.”
Her suggestion: a passenger seat that swivels and raises, and grab handles on the front and center roof pillars. Such features should be available on small, affordable cars, not just big, expensive ones or vans.
“A lot of us are facing the same problem,” Mattar said. “We aren’t all going to be driving Cadillacs. Some of us are going to be driving Corollas.”
