Top ten list of endangered automotive trends forms and features

April 15, 2:21 PMRoad & Driver ExaminerRoman Mica

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                                                Audi is perhaps best known for using LED lights on new models

Automobile manufactures like to use concept cars to give car buyers a glance into the future of automotive design and function.

But concept cars are both extremely fascinating and frustrating because, if and when they eventually go into production, they never look like the shinny ultra cool cars spinning on display at your local auto show. Because of cost, production, safety, and styling issues the final cars that roll from the assembly lines are usually just mere shadows of their concept cousins.

So while it may be very difficult indeed to discern the future of automotive style and substance from concept cars, it is not too hard to predict the death of trends from current productions cars.

So here's my Top Ten List of Endangered Automotive Trends, Forms, and Features:

10) The key

I have to be honest and say that I can't recall the last time I used an actual key to unlock a car door. Most new cars come with key fobs, and the newest of cars come with proximity sensors that unlock the doors as long as you have the key fob in your pocket or purse. In fact, the current generation of the Toyota Prius with the proximity sensor only has a tiny key hidden in the fob.

It won't be too long from now until automakers, like consumers who have done away with land phone lines, do away with the key entirely.

9) A key to start the car

For better or for worse the push button start is here to stay. As cars become more and more electrified, the push button starter will just seem more natural. Plus, why would you need a key to turn when you have a proximity fob in your pocket that electronically tells the car you are ready to drive?

8) The CD player and changer

If you are like me and you've owned a car with a CD changer in the trunk you know that you'll sooner listen to that Madonna's "Like a Virgin" for the 100th time than actually open the trunk and change the crusty old CD.

But even if you have just a regular CD player in the car, and ten great CD's tucked into the sun visor they will never be as convenient as iPod or iPhone with your entire music library. So in car storage hard drives,  iPod auxiliary ports, and other MP3 players are in, and CD is as dead as dinosaurs.

7) Small Sunroofs

The small sunroof that used to only allow the sun to grace the face of the driver and passenger at high noon is going the way of the dodo bird. Today even many reasonably priced cars like the Subaru Forester and Outback come with massively expansive sun roofs that open from the front of the roof all the way to the rear seats of the car.

And it won't be long before these massive sunroofs come with an array of solar cells to charge auxiliary batteries that will power in car ventilation systems to keep the car cool even when parked at your favorite beach. The 2010 Prius has this sort of solar sunroof as an option, and they'll soon start popping up on many other cars like mushrooms after a heavy rain.

6) Instant engine shut off/start

I don't even want to think about how much gas is wasted by cars idling at stoplights. If they can build a golf cart that starts and stops the engine based on when you push the accelerator, why can't cars do the same?

They can, some do, and more will.

As more and more cars switch to electricity as a partial or full form of propulsion, it will become easier to shut off the gas engine at stoplights. The current problem is that cars, unlike golf carts, also have air conditioners, heaters, and power everything that works only when the engine runs. So no engine running means no cooling at hot intersections or stalled traffic jams.

Many manufactures have already solved this technical problem including Mini which now sells many of it European bound cars with this engine shut off feature as standard. It is just a matter of time before we will get this technology on more cars on our side of the pond.

5) Incandescent light bulbs

The traditional light bulb is so out---both in the home and in the car.

It was not that long ago that many premium car brands like BMW, Audi, and Mercedes Benz switched to high intensity discharge headlands which provide a brighter and stronger light source. These are the cars that when you look down the highway at night seem to have blueish headlights.

But now many of those same brands are switching the LED lights because they are just as bright, use less power, and potentially last much longer without the need to replace those pesky small light bulbs.

As the coolness factor of LED's goes way up and the cost goes down, you'll soon start to see many more entry level cars with LED lights instead of traditional light bulbs.

Click HERE for part 2

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