Emerging Technologies

Auto industry outpaces rest of economy in pace of innovation

The auto industry has invested hundreds of billions of dollars into emerging technologies that promise to transform how people get around in the future. It's starting to outpace the rest of the economy in innovation.

Seeing green with copper welding lasers

Vitesco Technologies is using green-colored lasers to mass-produce battery management electronics for BMW.

Microphones listen to the outside world of people and traffic

A microphone outside the car allows safety systems and automated driving functions to detect everything from emergency sirens to commands delivered outside the vehicle.

Suppliers will deliver new solutions through recycling

The i Vision Circular from BMW, envisioned for around 2040, was created entirely with recycled materials and bio-based raw materials.

External light bars will communicate with outside world

In the self-driving car era, external digital displays will give visual cues to pedestrians and other cars.

GM envisions a windshield that dims itself

GM’s auto-dimming tech would prevent the driver from being blinded by the bright lights of an oncoming vehicle at night.

Consumers want to drive what they espouse

Product developers are hot at work selling what they call ’vegan leather,’ which isn’t leather at all. Japan’s Ultrafabrics Holdings supplies vegan interiors material to Tesla.

The growing need to monitor body language and droopy eyes

Suppliers are rolling out new driver systems designed to monitor a drivers’ head position, eyes and body to better determine if they are distracted or drowsy.

Who says a roof has to be metal?

France’s Citroën is producing a new technology for roofs: cardboard.

Hydrogen combustion presents an alternative to EVs

Toyota says hydrogen combustion holds great potential for achieving carbon neutrality.

Roof-mounted airbags open up design possibilities

As vehicle designers rethink how interiors are laid out and search for ways to make vehicles safer, a new air bag technology has gained a place, mounted in the vehicle’s roof.

The shift to really big vehicle castings

“Megacasting,” a process started with Tesla that uses large factory presses to create enormous individual auto pieces, is now spreading to Volvo, and may soon show up at Mercedes-Benz and the Chinese EV-maker Nio.

Passengers get the freedom to maneuver their seats

A stand-out feature of the new Kia EV9 three-row all-electric crossover is its second-row seats that swivel. First, they rotate to face backward for a face-to-face lounge setting with people in the third row.

Making sure disabled EVs are truly de-powered

Joyson Safety Systems’ Pyrotechnic Battery Disconnect is a small safety device that, when activated, drops through the bus bar that conducts electricity from the EV’s battery pack to break its current.

The rise of ‘system on a chip’ solutions

Reducing the number of electronic controllers a vehicle must carry means less manufacturing cost and complexity.

Lithium iron phosphate batteries a new route to less costly evs

The new lithium iron phosphate chemistry for batteries offers a new route to low-cost, shorter-range electric vehicles.

All-wheel motor drive is catching on in EVs

All-wheel motor drive is the premium must-have among the swelling ranks of electric vehicles, and Nissan’s e-4ORCE setup exemplifies the benefits of the new technology.

Higher-density batteries are on the horizon

NanoGraf is betting big on silicon anodes to greatly increase lithium-ion battery density for everything from electric vehicles to consumer electronics.

Solid-state lidar ditches spinning mirrors and motors

Solid-state lidar systems that can be produced profitably at scale and ditch the spinning mirrors and motors of traditional lidar.

Heated seat belts can boost EV battery range

The Heat Belt puts warmth up against a driver’s body on a cold morning. But its bigger promise is to deliver longer-lasting batteries for electric vehicles.

The clutter of steering wheels is going away

Auto designers are looking to integrate higher tech switches for the steering wheel that perform more like an iPhone.

New devices will detect who’s been drinking

In the next few years, all cars and trucks sold in America will contain a passive safety feature that determines whether a driver is drunk and then prevents them from driving.