CarOfTomorrow
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BMW's Wherever You Want To Go explores the future of mobility
Perhaps you weren't sold on the concept of urban mobility in your car of tomorrow when Audi started researching the subject, but maybe BMW's new documentary film series will persuade you. Chapter one of Wherever You Want to Go made its debut today and features interviews with visionaries from both in and outside the automotive community -- from astronaut Buzz Aldrin to co-founder of ZipCar Robin Chase -- speaking about how cars can and will adapt to meet the needs of future metropolitan denizens. This first movie is pretty much an extended trailer, so we'll be interested to see the full conversations in the coming installments -- and we can only hope these chats with forward-thinkers convince BMW to re-evaluate its ridiculous car of tomorrow concepts. Chapter two drops on February 8th, so stay tuned. Vid's after the break.
Editorial: I'm ready for my car of the future, and it doesn't even have to fly
Face it: you're never going to have a flying car. Even if the Moller Skycar were cheap and common enough for everyone to be able to afford, the first time some bleary-eyed morning commuter spilled coffee on their lap and made a spiraling dive into a kindergarten, they'd all be grounded. Permanently. We might get there some day, but the next few generations of tomorrow's cars are going to stay firmly planted on the ground. I'm okay with that. In fact, I like that. After all, it's pretty fun to drive on the ground -- or a lake, if the ice is thick enough. If we're stuck with such pedestrian things as wheels and tires and fenders, what's the next-generation of cars going to look like? Are hybrids really a hot thing or are they the automotive equivalent of a transition medium? Will tomorrow's cars continue today's horsepower wars or are a nation's dyno graphs on the verge of a beige econo-precipice the likes of which we haven't seen since the '70s fuel crisis? Damned if I know, but I do at least have an idea of what I believe the next generation of cars should be, something that could be produced in five years or less and would totally rock my world. Maybe it will rock yours, too.
