Imagining the electric car of 2025

Although electric cars may not yet quite be the norm, their adoption rate is certainly on the rise. By the year 2030, the UK government is aiming to drastically lower the production of petrol and diesel vehicles, in an effort to cut back on carbon emissions and hit climate change targets. This will inevitably pave the way for the electric car revolution, as the overall costs are expected to drop sharply and e-vehicle infrastructure is set to improve, making it more accessible and convenient than ever before. Automotive design has progressed so rapidly that today’s standardised features were a veritable luxury only a few years ago. In celebration of that progress, we have taken a look at what the electric car of 2025 might look like, as well as what type of technology it could have:

Hands-Free
Because of the advancement of speech recognition technology, and the mainstream use of Siri, Alexa and Google Home, it’s widely expected that most electric cars will have a minimalistic interior design, with fewer knobs and buttons than ever before. By 2025, this technology will have progressed even further, and voice-activated assistants will be able to let drivers change any settings or use any apps they wish, without moving a muscle.

Customisable Interiors
Several car manufacturers allow you to add your own personal touch and design your ideal car online before you purchase it. By 2025, we predict there will be electric cars that allow you to customise and reconfigure the interior at any given time. Take the Volkswagen I.D. Buzz for instance, which is set to be released by the year 2022. The minivan is the electric revamp of the iconic microbus of the 1960’s and ‘70s, and will feature a fully customisable interior, autonomous driving and a 300-mile range battery.

Screens
Over the coming years, it’s safe to predict that electric cars will use more screens than ever before. Instead of traditional screens though, the glass on the windshield and on the side windows are likely to be fully integrated smart displays that can be used for messaging, navigation and more. This ‘“smart glass” technology has already been developed by Israeli company, Gauzy, and could soon be a mainstay in most electric cars.

Automated/Touchscreen Steering
The arrival of self-driving cars has been a regular headline for a number of years now. Elon Musk’s Tesla recently unveiled the Model S and Model X, which will enable full self-driving capability in “almost all circumstances”. It might take a decade for the technology to be perfected, but there’s another alternative to regular driving, and that’s touchscreen or gesture steering. This type of technology could be the perfect backup system for self-driving cars while they are still in their infancy, as even the most advanced automated car will almost certainly need intervention at some point.

Digital Integration
Electric cars in the future will be fully integrated with our phones, which means that there’ll be no need for a key or a fob, a simple biometric tap of a button will do the trick. The CEO of Mercedes, Brian Fulton, predicts that electric cars will eventually adapt to your mood, whether it’s readjusting your body temperature or selecting the right type of music for the journey ahead. In fact, companies such as Affectiva are developing sensory systems in cars to determine how happy or sad you are through facial recognition. Their advanced AI system will also figure out if you’re getting too sleepy for the road and suggest small breaks when needed.