The deadline for entries to Autocar's Drivers of Change initiative, launched to bring innovation to the motoring industry, has been extended to 28 September at 11.59pm. The competition aims to attract clever ideas for the retail, technology and digital areas of the automotive world, and the best will win a £5000 prize.
To inspire you, three Autocar staffers share their own suggestions. To contribute your own great idea to Drivers of Change, please enter here.
Smart car chooser - Rachel Burgess
Considering a car against its rivals is an important facet of car purchase, and for us at Autocar it’s crucial to benchmark models and understand how good (or not) a vehicle is. Consumers aren’t always looking for a direct rival to their current car, and instead want something quite different.
A member of my family recently put the Jaguar XE and Peugeot 3008 on his shortlist of two. A Nissan Juke owner/ fan recently contacted us at Autocar because he wanted an electric car and didn’t know where to start.
Car owners typically know what they like or don’t like in terms of brands, styling, powertrain or, for the keener motorists, driving feel, but don’t know how to translate that to their next car – assuming they don’t want to make a repeat purchase. I believe there’s room for a comparison website with a difference, one aimed at addressing car choice questions not rigidly restricted to car classes. This consumer-focused site would have thousands of inputs to help car buyers establish what their next car should be. For example: ‘I really like the VW Golf but I want a sports car.’ The system generates an answer and suggests an Audi TT. Another example: ‘I really like a VW Golf but I want an electric car and something smaller.’ The system generates an answer and might suggest a Mini Electric and Peugeot e-208.
Ultimately, by making it easier for buyers to determine which car they want to buy, the entire carbuying process would be more straightforward for both buyers and car retailers. Thus, the suggested website should be able to become commercially viable because it would attract online display advertising or sponsored links through to car manufacturers/dealerships.
EV lifeline - Tom Morgan
One big issue of EV ownership, especially for those who live in a shared building or with separate parking (terraced houses) – with no easy means of charging – is the risk of being marooned well away from the nearest charging point when your traction battery has run out.
My idea is to develop a transportable EV charging battery that’s big enough to supply an electric car with enough range for a typical commute but compact enough to be brought into the house to recharge while the car is being used.
Join the debate
Add your comment
test
test
Sports cars
People don't want that.
That's why they don't sell.
I do like the modular EV
si73 wrote:
I think this is going to be unlikely; the cost of developing a car has been going up inexorably.
The introductions of BEVs is going to be a winner take most situation with a few companies cleaning up, self-driving and mobility as a service are going to mean that people just hire a specific vehicle for a task.
With EVs configurations like coupes, GTs and mid-engined sports cars also become pretty irrelevant/illogical. The user interface is likely to be a screen, a gesture camera and a microphone
In short I expect within a few years cars will be a lot like phones, all very similar with variations in size and performance.
Where I do see the market going is large amounts of electric restomods, with massively powerful, mechanically simple power trains being available relatively cheaply I can see a large number of characterful ICE cars being converted into EVs and potentially self-driving EVs. See Gattaca