As I was doing my Electric Karmann Ghia conversion, Nissan was designing the LEAF and Elon Musk was designing the Tesla. To me it is amazing what the car has become. You don’t start an electric car, you boot it like a computer. It is a computer. Or maybe with GPS mapping it is a search engine that actually goes there. Or maybe it is an iPod dock for music or a bluetooth connection becoming a mobile phone, or perhaps a mobile search engine.
If you look at all of these things that a car has become, it is really just an App in the iTunes store. When you establish connectivity with your iPhone or iPad, the car becomes an extension of that – and yes, there is an App for that. Let the car be the display and the brawn, the brains are the invention of that App. Siri, I want pizza, nearby, watch the construction on the way – guide me visually and with verbal directions.
Siri please speak French now. Could you ask that local for directions and plot out the route? Siri, please take me to the nearest Pizzeria, thin crust style, 5 stars.
The crux of the next car is – what does that App or Apps look like? Software done by car companies has had it’s day. Let the professionals at this. I always think of Steve Jobs, for him it was the experience of the device. What will the experience be like? Does the car light up when hearing your voice – and only your voice, or others authorized to drive – but not ’til he is 16… 🙂 Is your voice the key to the ignition? “Open the door Siri, Siri drive home”.
Your appointments in your calendar are available and Siri speaks the appointments in time for you to drive there, the current traffic patterns are calculated, you are reminded of when you should leave. Converging on a meeting or even a meal, all other friends are on your radar map too. Siri, please call for the reservation… You are directed to a convenient charge station, and then takes over with GPS in your iPhone on foot to the restaurant.
That cross country road trip, reservations made and changed according to current route conditions. Route dynamically planned with construction delays in mind. Spots along the way duly noted and suggestions made. Snowstorm up ahead, rerouting… You are low on charge, slight diversion now to charge for the rest of the trip…
And why be disconnected from your email when driving? Have Siri read it to you and you reply with dictation. No need to leave your emails at home or the office. Dictate to twitter or face back or instant messaging if you want to. Take photos with your iPhone, share them on the web as soon as you get back to the car. Share them like signposts on the GPS map,posted as a shared map with those your wish to share. We definitely need better maps, much like the Google maps that show you a picture of what you are looking for. So your car becomes an extension of your online life, while on the road.
… and we definitely need 3D maps for estimating driving distances. That half mile up the Kawaihae road takes 5 bars! Draw out your route with your finger on the integrated iPhone/iPad on the map app, have the GPS maps clean it up, and direct you there. Or tap the end point (the start point is already known) and have the route entered into the GPS directions. Why do we need to type in addresses? “Tap and take me there”. And it really doesn’t change when you  get out of the car, you can draw your route on your iPhone while at lunch and have it automatically available as GPS directions in the car. It would also be nice if you could track your car on your iPhone in case it is stolen.
Of course iBooks works too, you can use the car audio to listen to audiobooks as you drive, bring the iPhone with you to lunch, and keep listening if you like. It would be nice if cruise control had “drive at posted speed limit”. That would make ETA calculations possible….
What a perfect convergence of technologies. Americans love cars and mobility and technology. Now, we can be mobile, without pause -drive free, drive clean, and drive courtesy the Sun. An EV is a physical enabler of your online life. Think big, think different…
Doug