The way we travel by road is continuing to evolve year after year. From trip planning, to the cars we use, to the way we manage our travel while driving. Let’s take stock:
Planning a trip today
From the road map we used many years ago, we all moved quickly to GPS navigation, then suddenly to apps on smartphones that we can now also use from the dashboard of our car.
Routes, travel times, planned stops: within seconds we have a clear idea of how our trip will go even before we get in the car.
We cannot get lost, it is almost impossible to take a wrong turn, and we are unlikely to have to ask locals for information.
Today, perhaps, a trip is less unpredictable but certainly more relaxed.
The cars of today and those of the future
Electric cars: a new driving experience
Sure, the type of engine changes (from endothermic to electric), but many more things change in the experience of the driver. Here are a few:
Silence is the first thing perceived when moving in electric. There is an initial bewilderment in moving around in a car that does not go “brum brum” as we had been taught since childhood. It only takes a few minutes, however, to realize that it can be a pleasure to drive without the noise of the engine and to be able to choose to listen only to what you want.
When driving, what is surprising is the responsiveness of the electric motor, that is, the absence of lag between the moment you press the accelerator and the moment the power reaches the wheels.
Even refueling can be a new experience. If recharging your car at a public gas station is almost like filling up with gasoline, certainly recharging your electric car in your garage at home is a new situation that simplifies the way we use our cars and manage our time. A new habit: we leave the car in the garage at night and find it charged the next morning.
No garage? You certainly won’t run out of power: the high-power Free To X charging network is becoming more and more widespread throughout Italy.
Car-sharing
Here is the most current alternative to owning a car. Sure, renting has been around for a long time, but borrowing a car just for the time of even the shortest commute is one more option, a new freedom.
We search for an available car with our smartphone, unlock it, get in the car, and know that we will only pay for the actual time of use.
All very normal, all innovative.
It almost seems strange to call all these aspects “changes.” To varying degrees, they are already part of our lives and habits, they have already changed the way we move on the road. And it is not over yet.
Self-driving cars – The final frontier?
There are those who can’t wait to let their cars drive for them, and there are those who don’t want to give up the pleasure of driving.
What is certain is that true autonomous driving is a possibility that year after year is becoming more and more concrete.
One wonders if even this innovation will seem as normal and taken for granted as we now take for granted all the others we have described so far.
It is difficult to speculate what the future scenario will be. What is certain is that more than ever in these years, mobility continues to evolve, and once again it will be up to each of us to choose whether to change our habits or maintain our own.
But come to think of it, how many of you still use road maps?
