Features on new cars that are going extinct: keys, spare tires, idling?

[wldgtx]

on a side note it seems signal lights appear to have gone extinct, especially on BMW's and  Mercedes.
Which is kinda weird figuring what they cost, one would think they wouldn't need to cut corners on those cars?    ( pardon the pun)

[Flatdad]

Headlights used to be:

Regular beams and high beams

Now they're high beams and cornea burning beams

[dave73]

on a side note it seems signal lights appear to have gone extinct, especially on BMW's and  Mercedes.
Which is kinda weird figuring what they cost, one would think they wouldn't need to cut corners on those cars?    ( pardon the pun)

spend 400k on a Lamborghini and the vertical doors are still manual, that is some bs right there!

[js27]

Lot's of good comments here. I remember when cars came with cigar lighters in them as standard equipment--LOL. As far as electric cars go-taking over I feel is a long way off. Many good points brought up here but right now all batteries are made from Lithium I believe. The mining of Lithium is tearing up very large holes in the earth and how much Lithium is there to mine ?
The infrastructure is certainly no where near up to the task of having near enough charging stations. The driving distance is short compared to a gas engine. Do electric cars go 400 miles before you can fill them up in less then 5 minutes and get back on the road for another 400 miles ? Right now they are good for inter city commutes where you can get to work and back on one charge. I live in SC where we get hurricanes that take out power grids for days and sometimes weeks--no power no driving your electric car--YOUR STUCK. Anyway just my thoughts. Here is my electric motor !!!
JS27

[Claudia]

  I guess when it comes right down to it, it doesn't really matter to me what people choose to drive . . . to each their own.  My wife has always dreamed of owning a Mercedes from a very young age.  So, we recently went an purchased her a 2018 Mercedes which has the start / stop feature (among a plethora of other options) and after spending some time behind the wheel and putting in some miles, neither of us are a fan of the feature itself but the fact that you have to turn it off every time you start the car is an annoyance at the very least.  She does however, like the car and is happy with it but when it's time, she has already decided that she will not get another Mercedes.  I also concur with her . . . for the money, we just didn't find it all that impressive.  Now, on the other hand . . . for me . . . I want to know that I am driving an American muscle car . . . I want to know that I am driving a gas guzzling piece of Detroit steel and not being politely piloted around in some electric bug of a machine . . . I miss the good old days . . . the days of sliding a metal key into a metal ignition switch . . . the days of using your foot to turn on your brights . . . I want to have the windows down and hear that exhaust note . . . I want to feel the road when gripping the steering wheel . . . I want to know that I am driving. 

[ledphoot]

Change is inevitable. We are all fortunate in that we have these old cars to enjoy while we are taking a spin on the 3rd rock from the sun.

I have friends that work @ Waymo.. This stuff works, I have seen it in action and it will not be long before it's on the consumer market.

https://waymo.com/

They are currently testing a Jaguar SUV that looks fairly stock and Mac trucks!

[JH27N0B]

 Am I the only one who hates key fobs?  If I had a dollar for every time I've been working out in the yard or in the kitchen, and suddenly my horn starts honking, my trunk pops open, or the doors lock or unlock, I would have enough singles to keep a bunch of strippers happy!
Doesn't seem to take much to cause a button on them to be pressed when it's in my pocket. I need to find a shield of some sort I can keep my keys in so the signal can't travel.
Auto dimming rear view mirrors are another one, I had one go bad and leak some chemical on my console.
It makes me nervous driving my car without a spare.  Car came with a little compressor full of fix a flat, which will do me no good if I have a blowout.
And one feature I miss is the ability to diagnose many problems myself without a reader of some sort to pull codes!

[YellowThumper]

To start with I have to thank Cody for starting this thread that i have spent much time on.

My 2c is that Electric cars are not the future. They are the current stopgap for what is next. IMOP it will be hydrogen fuel cells.

As there are a lot of pluses for electric. The minuses are a long way from being resolved. Key for me is the required charge time. Not conducive for long travels.
Now take and see how long the battery power lasts in the dead of winter in the midwest. Heater has to be heated v/s the byproduct of combustion.

Next is just food for thought. Every positive comment states how efficient they are. Has anyone considered how many millions of gallons of diesel fuel is used to mine the minerals to produce the batteries. I have wondered how long the RTI is for every battery powered car out there.

Not to mention the massive destruction of landscapes mining it. Oh well most of that is 3rd world countries that dont count...

Mike

[Chryco Psycho]

 
The pollution factor is approx even , the cost of building & disposing of electric cars is about equal to fuel cars , the electrical power grid is often not adequate now , it will take some amazing electrical advances to support charging 100& electric vehicles , I do lke the ful Tq feature of electric though ! Heat will be a huge concern with electric cars also , while many live in moderate climates most of Canada is not moderate & batteries use a lot of power to make heat & do not release the charge as well when they are cold which has to cut the driving range in 1/2
The Start stop dash buttons have proven to be problematic to some degree in that it is hard to know when the car is running , some have died as the car was left running in the garage overnight as there is not key to force you to shut it off when you get out .
Last month I tried to boost a dead car from a hybrid , the hybrid wil not run at idle & there really was not safe place to connect the jumpers
When I started as a locksmith everything was mechanical , not nothing is everything is computers , the cost of the keys has gone up over 100x where a typical key was $2 now it is closer to 250+ & all of the special equipment needed to duplicate a key nevermind create a new key when there are none is crazy . 

[YellowThumper]

And to take this a different route. The lack of real world driving skills. Normal every day driving all the assists are awsome.  Now put a car in a slide that is above its control factor. All of us out there that have had cars capable of immediately killing you with the go pedal have learned (or should have) how to handle adverse slide conditions.

[Jay Bee]

On and off I've been reading about the Fisker eMotion mainly because they claim over 400 mile range and an 80% charge in 1 minute. Pretty impressive if it's true.

I agree with YellowThumper, hydrogen fuel cells; not too economically feasible at this time but there's got to be a reason why the major Japanese automakers are investing so much into it.

Edited out link.

[1 Wild R/T]

On and off I've been reading about the Fisker eMotion mainly because they claim over 400 mile range and an 80% charge in 1 minute. Pretty impressive if it's true.

https://www.express.co.uk/life-style/cars/987820/Fisker-Emotion-electric-car-solid-state-battery-range-charging

I agree with YellowThumper, hydrogen fuel cells; not too economically feasible at this time but there's got to be a reason why the major Japanese automakers are investing so much into it.

Talk about a website that clearly doesn't want you to view content....  "Continue and Accept All"  I don't think so...

[Jay Bee]

RE: Fisker eMotion. Here's another website that doesn't ask to "Continue and Accept All". That one had the most current date, this one's from Jan. 2018. The car is pretty cool looking too (IMHO) with all the latest tech.
https://www.motorauthority.com/news/1113815_fisker-solid-state-battery-promises-500-mile-range-1-minute-charging

[HP_Cuda]

Granted it seems that electric is the future but the lack of battery technology is really what is hampering it. Lithium polymer batteries are a fire risk, lithium ion batteries are good but cumbersome, there are new lithium LiCo batteries which have higher voltages but in the end all of these have serious shortcomings with longevity. The recharge rates or (C) are getting better which will help with recharge times but it somewhat affects cell longevity as well.

Hydrogen would be great if it didn't take more power to make than what you get out of it.

Additionally, the power grid's of today are totally inadequate although several utilities are building nextgen IGP (Integrated Grid Platforms) of the future. So hopefully we will gain better efficiencies in the near future. 

Ultimately we need to figure out if the power generated for said electric cars derives from cleaner sources otherwise what's the use? If we use fossil fuels to generate > 60% of that electricity we are headed in the wrong direction.

This is a multi-faceted problem which needs to serious attention to address.

[1Burgfish]

  Wow!!! so many numbers thrown around; makes my head hurt One thing I know is that when it comes time to replace one of those batteries in those electric cars better get ready to through anywhere from $7,000 to $10,000 at it and not every service station can service those types of cars, they need specialized techs to do the job. $$$