The future

FEATURES will remain emotional

When will we fnally let go of the steering wheel? When will the frst drone cars take of? Markus Kramer from the TomorowToday think tank embarks on a fctional journey through time.

of my time while it takes over. At last, Thursday, 25 June 2020 no more distractions when I’m trying to send a message via WhatsApp on My son is celebrating his 14th bir- the journey to work! Of course, the thday this weekend. The weather is police understand the situation per- beautiful, the sun is shining down on fectly – but it still cost me 120 francs. the glistening tarmac – and I have In Sweden, more than 20 percent of just treated myself to a Ferrari 207 the population no longer drive them- MM Barchetta! A true homage to the selves: the joint venture established early days of the brand with the pran- between Volvo and Uber in 2016 has cing horse logo. OK, so this Barchet- been a great success. Security is now ta has more than the original 166 hp less and less about attaching your under its bonnet – but it still has a seatbelt. Clever, fully networked and V12 engine. The object of my desi- hence passive security is much more re is turbocharged, sounds great and efective. Almost 30 percent of acci- looks even better. There's no doubt dents are prevented before they can about it, Ferrari is still Ferrari, even if even occur. nowadays, the power of almost 900 hp can be switched over to electricity And I fnally have my own conveniently via app when travelling Barchetta. At least, I will do for the in urban trafc. The electric drive sys- next four days. Because if I'm really tem is quite sufcient. A Ferrari with an electric engine? That would have been unthinkable a few years ago. Markus Kramer However, it's impossible to get any real pleasure from driving in the city Markus Kramer is a partner in centre these days, despite all the Brand Afairs AG, an agency for strategic brand development and technological improvements made communication. His career has to mid-range cars. There are no cars taken him to international frms without drivers on the Swiss roads such as Mazda, Honda, Harley- just yet. Although it may only be a Davidson and Aston Martin. matter of years until we are ofcially Kramer is also an associate of the allowed to switch on the «auto- TomorrowToday think tank (UK), pilot» around here. The technology teaches strategic brand manage- already works very well; we are sim- ment at the Cass Business School ply waiting for permission to use it – in London, and plays an active I even got fned recently for trying it part in Blue-Automotive, a US- out in my company car. But to be ho- based start-up for «Connected Cars». nest, the car is a better driver than I www.brandafairs.ch Emotion and passion Markus am – and I can make productive use 38 honest about it, it doesn't actually in standard feature. I can understand rast HD display. Joline, my assistant, belong to me. I rented it from Car why, particularly with regard to the and a customer in Sydney, appear on E&D, virtually for free. Not from a real owner of the Barchetta. It's all it. I make good use of the 30-minute dealer, but from a company owner about radical transparency. But the drive to work for this unscheduled vi- who is spending the weekend ab- acceleration out of the bends is un- deo call. To make up for it, I watch an road. Five years ago, things like ho- believable. The hybrid gets the ba- episode of Friends on the way home lidays, hotels, accommodation and lance just right and provides full po- that evening – I think it's from 1995, a variety of other products were al- wer even with low engine speeds. but it's still every bit as good. And if ready being made available to others The top is down, of course, and it I don’t hide the adverts, I even get or even exchanged. Of course Airbnb would be impossible to put a price paid for watching. Yes, Google does still exists, as do Ebay and Ricardo. on the expression on my son’s face. still exist. But renting exclusive cars is now no longer a problem, and works very There is a lot less trafc on the well. Pure enjoyment, without having Monday, 7 October 2030 roads since autonomous driving be- to worry about insurance, running came possible thanks to the so- costs and, of course, taxes. A quick cofee to start the day. At lutions found by private insurance least nothing has changed there. My companies and new legislation. We set of. Me and my son, dri- iCar is already waiting: warmed up I haven't driven a vehicle myself ving over the Klausen Pass towards and ready to take me to work. The since 2025. Autonomous vehicles Central Switzerland. There's no point frst call comes in after 5 minutes. are efcient and cost less to drive. In in going too fast – we are monito- And within a millisecond, the wind- fact, I couldn't drive my iCar even if I red constantly; that’s already a built- screen has turned into a high-cont- wanted to – it doesn't have a steering

Kramer is convinced that cars will still be triggering emotions in the year 2050.

39 Infniti Synaptiq This is how the designers from Infniti imagine an automobile cockpit will look like in 2029. © Infniti wheel. There are only a few stragg- engine power of 180 hp is largely whenever you need it, even in my litt- lers who still drive their own vehicles. sufcient for its autonomy of almost le village. It usually arrives within fve I suspect that it has something to do 1500 kilometres. The thing I like best minutes, and I get in alongside two or with preserving their ego. Of course is the «all of» button – once you have three other (real) people. That makes nobody ever said that autonomous pressed it, the system warns you that a welcome change from an otherwi- driving would become normal over- the insurance will be adjusted dy- se totally virtual and networked world. night. The barrier has long been hu- namically and increased by 50 per- The energy storage problem has man rather than technological. cent, but the fun factor is exponen- been almost fully resolved. The new tially high. For 100 francs a day, you fuel cells are safe, lightweight and Doesn't time fy: Rafael turned 24 can rapidly rent an additional 360 hp small – and provide cars with an al- at the beginning of the summer. He and almost 400 Nm via software tu- most unlimited supply of energy. has only ever experienced «driving ning. Of course, it all has to be trea- yourself» for the fun factor, not least ted with caution, and fortunately it’s To mark the occasion, I applied for thanks to me. He has bought himself not something you can aford to do special authorisation from the road a new BMW xAI – not from a dealer, every day. trafc authorities: I am driving an As- but via VR (Virtual Reality) conveni- ton Martin DB5 – the genuine James ently from home. Which reminds me, Bond Goldfnger car from the 1960s the initials AI in the name of the new Saturday, 9 July 2050 that delivers 286 hp – over the Gott- BMW model stand for «Artifcial In- hard Pass into Ticino. My son Rafael telligence». And the car even deli- Today is my 77th birthday. Having and my grandson Luca are with me. vered itself – it drove right up to our said that, I am still relatively young, Luca was born in 2043. A seven-year- house and phoned us. now that the average life expectancy old bundle of energy with a mop of has reached 104. When I need to get blond hair, who has never been in a It’s an amazing vehicle. A fuel cell from A to B, I order an Xter via voice car with a manual gear stick and that provides the energy needed by the control – with up to seven seats, actually needs a driver. It's not sur- electric drive system. Of course, the the autonomous vehicle is available prising: the frst commercially availa- ble, self-fying and self-driving mul- ti-functional car drones – known as Vtools – will mark his generation.

The three of us rumble along the old Tremola road towards Airolo. With the windows down, the wind is whistling through all the cracks and the 4-litre petrol engine revs on eve- ry turn – the joy of driving is writ- ten on our faces. It still feels good, even in the year 2050. In 30 years’ time, hopefully Rafael will bring Luca and his children for another drive through Ticino in a DB5 – probably

© Ehang without me, although defnitely with a big smile on their faces. The emo- tions and passion of automobiles will Taking of From 2050 onwards, people will also sometimes travel by drone. simply never be lost. 40