March 3, 2021—The industry has been inundated with futuristic talk of autonomous vehicles, but many automated features are already showing up on today’s vehicles.
In order to prepare for the next frontier of transportation, repairers need to familiarize themselves with today’s technology, or risk falling even further behind to the detriment of their shop and their customers’ safety.
The following is a list of the top automotive technologies, according to the people at Kelley Blue Book. The list is a signal of where the industry is heading, and it provides a roadmap for repairers to get acquainted with advanced features that will inevitably land in their shops.
Advanced Driver Assist Systems
It’s no secret that advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) are the future of vehicle technology and Kelley Blue Book agrees. ADAS features include adaptive cruise control, lane keep assist, cross-traffic alerts, and more.
ADAPT has reported on ADAS features at length, including calibrating ADAS systems and how shops can get started in this space.
Automatic Emergency Braking
Automatic emergency braking (AEB) is an ADAS feature that can sense a potential accident and apply full brake pressure to stop a vehicle quickly, hopefully preventing a collision.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is currently working to get automakers to commit to installing AEB on new vehicles. Tesla, Volvo, Audi, Hyundai, and more have already agreed. Check out this article to learn more about their efforts.
Digital Keys
Many automakers, like Tesla, have begun investing in connected apps and digital keys to allow drivers to access vehicle information and even remotely unlock and start their vehicles.
Teen Driver Technology
Teen Driver is a feature offered exclusively by General Motors that allows vehicle owners to control certain settings for their vehicles such as volume limits and alerts owners if their vehicle goes over a certain speed or if the seat belts aren’t in use.
Teen Driver also issues a report card that can tell owners if certain ADAS features, like automatic emergency braking, have been triggered.
Exit Warning
Another ADAS feature, exit warning functions using radar and camera sensors that can alert a driver if a cyclist or pedestrian is near, “ensuring that a passenger doesn’t open a car door as a cyclist passes,” according to Kelley Blue Book.
Newer Mercedes models have this feature alert passengers in a variety of ways from a side mirror notification to an audible warning and even ambient door lighting that can flash red, according to Automotive News.
Read about the rest of the list and get more information by viewing the full story over at ADAPT.
