Some say the only constant is change. Okay, the existence of gravity as a force might be up there, but there’s a certain truth to that idiom. Haircuts, music, cars … they all change from decade to decade, and I’d like to clear off the table and bring out the crystal ball for a second. Today, we’re asking you for your pick of a feature common in new cars today that could seem outmoded three decades from now. It’s a big ask, but you’re a clever lot, so I’m sure you’ll have some interesting answers.
Flip the calendar back 30 years and you’ll land on 1996. That doesn’t seem terribly far in the past, but cars have changed a whole lot since then. We’ve gone from halogen headlights to LEDs, fixed steering columns in cheap cars to ones that at least tilt, optional radios at the bottom end of the market to infotainment. You can’t even play CDs in most cars anymore, yet having a CD changer in 1996 meant that you had it going on.
Perhaps the humble cigarette lighter is the most omnipresent antiquated feature in ’90s cars. From a Toyota Tercel to a Rolls-Royce Silver Spirit, sparking one up was a common enough way of passing the time that just about every car had either an optional or standard fingerprint-remover in the dashboard or center console. Between advancements in technology and changing health trends, far fewer cars now come with ways for passengers to accidentally singe the upholstery. You’re lucky if a smoker’s pack is a dealer-installed option, and some cars simply don’t have traditional 12-volt power points anymore.
Is there a true modern equivalent to this? It’s hard to say for sure, mostly because time travel hasn’t been invented yet. However, if I were to hazard a guess, the presence of hexavalent chrome plating is a strong contender. Unsurprisingly, the traditional chroming process isn’t particularly nice to things like lungs, so it’s unsurprisingly the target of recent regulations. Europe is already phasing out hexavalent chromium, and since we live in a largely global car market and chrome already seems to be out of style, it’s likely the sort of chrome we’re used to will become a rare sight.
That’s just a guess though, and I’m far from the only person capable of making a bold prediction. So, what car feature do you reckon is going to feel so antiquated in 2056? As ever, let us know in the comments below.
Top graphic image: Ram
Cars?
We’ll be so far removed from physical, metal-bladed keys that people will be weirded out seeing them in action.
This for the win.
100% agree. I assume you can still get cars that require keys in 2026, but I’m actually not sure. I just wonder if key fobs will still be a thing, or if it’ll be biometric like a phone or my laptop…
I specifically sought out a car with a physical key when I bought my last new car in 18 it was tricky then
My 2020 Tundra work truck model (4WD, 4 doors, 8′ bed, vinyl seats) has one (only one) key lock (no keyless entry for you, tradie). I figure I’ll need a brick when that lock some day fails in 2055. It would be a great article to cover which vehicles have keys these days.
My 2024 Impreza has keys for ignition and doors. But if I unlock my door with the key rather than the fob button the alarm honks.
Tires will not be needed on the flying hover bubble pods that we will be piloting.
I’m kinda glad I probably wont be driving anymore 30 years from now. I get enough angst avoiding idiots coming at me in 2 dimensions, I dont want to be scanning the third for out of control Nissan Altimairs
Piano Black trim
Actual mirrors for rearview and side mirrors
Combustion engine
30 years from now:
“How old are these fingerprints?!?”
Pumped in fake engine noises.
All the other Kev’s with the pumped in revs
better run, better run
Outrun my gun
Very nice
We can only hope.
Any feature that is permanently available vs by subscription.
I disagree. Outside of music (and maybe self driving services, if you’re into that sort of thing) the subscription model is going to die a well deserved death. The manufacturers are learning the hard way the squeeze ain’t worth the juice they’re getting from it.
The ability to be able to repair anything at all.
The frame/body will be a monocoque with the drivetrain along with the interior. If there are fasteners, they’ll be pentalobes, even in the highest torque applications. Nuts and bolts will be seven sided, except when they’re five sided. Bluetooth will be too political, so American manufacturers will be forced to make Redtooth, so that feelings aren’t hurt and everything is fair and equal, nevermind that it was named after a Danish king and conquerer. Volkswagen will spend $3 billion trying to develop a software stack and eventually outsource the task, and still manage to be unsuccessful. Cupholders will be replaced with gun holders, for our freedoms and so we can shoot our way into or out of any situation. The car computer will be an ASIC designed to mine Trumpcoin, and designed to be cooled by global warming floodwaters from the 100-year-storms we will get every 3 to 5 years.
One thing will still be rock solid, obdurate and unchanging, even 30 years from now, though:
Ford will still be promising to lower warranty costs.
Wireless charging pads that heat more than distribute electricity.
Brand specific: RamBox. Hyundai UV Sterilization compartments. Prius #hashtag on everything. Frunks. The Nissan Rogue PHEV.
Probably a trunk if we’re being honest.
Europe is banning it? Sounds like we’ll be requiring it to be added to the food pyramid soon ????
Honestly? Touch Screens
A man can hope.
By 2056? Internal combustion engines.
Joy of driving.
An engine running on straight gasoline. I suspect there will be a lot of electrics and gas vehicles will run on synthetic gas made from recycled materials.
Windows. The 30 year olds will all be trying to work out why anyone would ever want to see out of a transport pod.
2056 will definitely be the year of Linux on the desktop (and car UI).
Grills, no third row of seats, turn signal stalks, rear view mirrors, separate entertainment systems, hydraulic systems, alternators, bench seats.
The ability to drive without tweeting to President Baron Trump asking permission to do so.
He will get back to you after he asks his Mom what she thinks.
He’ll be waiting a long time as she re-negotiates her post-natal contract before offering her answer.
Mirrors.
Automatic seatbelts. I mean, I think they are weird today. But I’ll think they are weird in 30 years too.
Drivers.
Steering wheel
My thought too. It does not make me excited.
Built in car phones. They’ve been long gone from new cars for two decades now, but most drivers on the road remember a time before cell phones were ubiquitous and thus realize there was a time you needed a physical phone built into the car if you wanted to make a phone call.
In another 30 years, the majority of drivers will have been born post-smartphone and likely not fully realize how the smartphone (and computers) changed cars forever.
Man, they’ll really think it’s weird when you tell them you used to have to stick a cassette tape in the dash, that had a headphone jack coming out of it, if you wanted to listen to your iPod.
USB-C outlets. We’ll be up to -G by then.
I remember like 15 years ago when I thought USB-C would have fully taken over by now, and yet I just bought a light up dog collar and it came with mini-B. Like, what the fuck, that should have died ages ago!
The worst is when something has the physical USB-C port, but it’s not actual the actual standard you need, so it doesn’t work as expected or at all. Not requiring the same power standards, data standards, or communication/handshake standards across the board has made it a mess. Standardizing the physical port should have also come with more broadly adopted and higher performing data and power standards. I have a few USB-C devices that only charge with specific cables and bricks while the rest of my stuff is almost universal, it’s super annoying.
I get it, you can’t predict everything and need some flexibility, but we couldn’t even figure out some form of backwards compatibility with older/outdated standards as newer/better ones come out?
“ The worst is when something has the physical USB-C port, but it’s not actual the actual standard you need, so it doesn’t work as expected or at all.”
I *released* a product like that (not my decision) and it made me want to throw up. It still fills me with rage almost a half a decade later.
I bought one of those.
I will be mad at you for twelve years or so and then I will send myself to my room without dinner to spite you.
Believe me… if I could have done it differently I would have. The perils of being an individual contributor vs. being a manager.
Like HDMI. Is this cable 1.4, 2.0, 2.1? Whenever I buy something new, like a recent soundbar, I just went ahead and bought a new 2.1 cable because I have no idea what my existing ones are.
USB-C is problematic in that it’s a physical form factor AND a protocol spec, but the physical connector also supports different protocols. So as you point out there’s no way to look at a cable or outlet and know wtf it does.
It’s an own-goal that could have been prevented.
Is it the glowing ring? I have them for my dogs.
I have a few things that still use mini connectors so I still have a charging cord sitting on my desk. There’s probably a warehouse in China that has millions of those connectors and they’re selling them off cheaply while supplies last.
Car radios.
Interesting take, and one I hadn’t considered. I’m sure there are younger folks out there who can’t even fathom the concept of letting someone you don’t know pick the next song you’re gonna hear.
Steering wheel.