Current Cars in 2080

[Rocinante]

Where do people think the current crop of Volvo's will be in 20 or 30 years ?

Just a passing thought as I was looking at some of the older cars on here.

There's 60 year old Volvo's on here, that are being maintained, rebuilt and run by people in their own driveways and garages. Do people think this is possible with with current crop of cars, with the software and computers now contained in the cars, or is that just another car component ?

If it is possible, will people even want to keep these cars running ?
Do the people on here envisage that there will be people working on and driving V60s, XC60s etc. in 2080, assuming they can get fuel for them ?

At least the roads will be quieter, what with everyone in flying cars by then.

[Zebster]

No reason current cars couldn't be around in 60 years, but probably converted to all-electric.

Will there still be a human race in 60 years though?

[Wagon Sailor]

Originally Posted by Zebster

... current cars ... converted to all-electric.

Nice pun, chum.

[cheshired5]

Given how reliant they are on software, I would imagine that the current cars will be where everyone's first Android or iPhone is.
Can you imagine just how terrible and dated and buggy a 30 year old tablet or capacitive touch panel is going to be having gone through 60 combined winters and summers? They'll be about as relevant as an Austin Maestro talking dash is relevant now.

Maybe the odd one will be driven by lovers of retro like how people play 8-bit games now but the harsh reality is that hardly anyone knows how to fix cars or has any interest in it outside the realms of professional garages.

Us oldies had to learn if we wanted any kind of reasonably priced car that would be reliable but people now just lease, dispose and renew with no interest in what goes on under the bonnet and why.

That's not a recipe for seeing your current XC90 T8 being driven past you in 2050 by its 5th owner.

[abdiel]

Flying cars......God forbid!

[DaveNP]

Way back when I started driving most cars had a carburettor which a bright lad could learn to fix with a spanner and a hammer, those new fangled cars with fuel injection and electronic ignition were some sort of voodoo and you'd never be able to fix them yourself, fast forward to today and I can fire up my laptop or phone and this Forum can tell me how to improvise a fault code reader, offer me a computer already set up with diagnostic software and advise me how to deal with the tricksy electronics. I dare say in 30 or 60 years time there will be people interested and clever enough to know how to subvert the systems on a 2020 Volvo and keep it going.
Zebster may have a valid point that they will have been converted to electric, I was casually browsing the web and the motor from a Nissan Leaf is nearly as powerful as my 2.5l Volvo lump so it wouldn't be a bad swap.

[green van man]

Originally Posted by DaveNP

Way back when I started driving most cars had a carburettor which a bright lad could learn to fix with a spanner and a hammer, those new fangled cars with fuel injection and electronic ignition were some sort of voodoo and you'd never be able to fix them yourself, fast forward to today and I can fire up my laptop or phone and this Forum can tell me how to improvise a fault code reader, offer me a computer already set up with diagnostic software and advise me how to deal with the tricksy electronics. I dare say in 30 or 60 years time there will be people interested and clever enough to know how to subvert the systems on a 2020 Volvo and keep it going.
Zebster may have a valid point that they will have been converted to electric, I was casually browsing the web and the motor from a Nissan Leaf is nearly as powerful as my 2.5l Volvo lump so it wouldn't be a bad swap.

I would think more likely to of been converted to run on hydrogen, the current fad for electric vehicles is I fear unsustainable.

Paul.

[john.wigley]

I don't think that cars in 2080, if they still exist, will look so very different to those of today, 'Rociante'. When cars first made an appearance in the closing years of the 19th century, there were as many variants as there were manufacturers. Every car was unique, front engined, rear, mid; steam powered, petrol, even electric; open, closed - you name it, it was there! Over the first three decades of the last century, design evolved, was refined, consolidated, until a basically standard design was offered by most manufacturers. This pertained for many years, but has recently of late been taken to a whole new level with the advent of both CAD and CAM.

Where they will be different is, as others have said, in matters technological. If they do exist, they will be as different from those of today as a quill pen is from a ball-point. Not only will they be built by robots, they will probably be serviced by them, too.

As for the cars of today in 60 years time? There is little enough that the layman can do on them today without computers and specialised equipment, so, if they do exist, I think it will be as museum pieces to remind our grandchildren of just how primitive we were!

Regards, John.

[pinballdave]

Originally Posted by DaveNP

I dare say in 30 or 60 years time there will be people interested and clever enough to know how to subvert the systems on a 2020 Volvo and keep it going.

Exactly this.

For an example from another hobby of mine. I have a small collection of pinball machines. Some of these are coming up to 40 years old. The electronics in the older ones are way past obsolete, and some of the newer ones use custom chips that are impossible to source.

But there is a thriving market in replacement circuit boards, recreating the original functions using current technology. An obsolete processor chip can be recreated in current generation programmable logic, a long since discontinued lamp driver is replaced by a modern mosfet, but the function remains the same, and the pinball machine lives on.

In the same way that there are specialists re-making magnetos for pre-war cars, and producing alternator conversions for cars that came equipped with dynamos, there will be people making replacement fuel injection pumps and ECUs, and black boxes to fool the car's computer into thinking the original engine is still present, even though it's been replaced by an electric motor.

You might think that the technology in modern cars is near impossible to understand, but it's just a different skill set. There will be a generation of geeks that are born with this technology all around them, and hacking and modifying it will seem trivial to them.

[TDIvolvo]

Originally Posted by Rocinante

Where do people think the current crop of Volvo's will be in 20 or 30 years ?

Just a passing thought as I was looking at some of the older cars on here.

There's 60 year old Volvo's on here, that are being maintained, rebuilt and run by people in their own driveways and garages. Do people think this is possible with with current crop of cars, with the software and computers now contained in the cars, or is that just another car component ?

If it is possible, will people even want to keep these cars running ?
Do the people on here envisage that there will be people working on and driving V60s, XC60s etc. in 2080, assuming they can get fuel for them ?

At least the roads will be quieter, what with everyone in flying cars by then.

The issue will be parts, not maybe the simple parts but the sensors, modules, solenoids and ECU's. My V70 is on its 3rd PEM. They just fail. I reckon I could rebuild it to be honest but any software onboard (I think it is just a piece of hardware with logic mind you) and I would be stuffed. I would only have the very basic initial thoughts on how to get the software out of it and copied onto a new chip.

60 years ago things were much more simple (and better), there were far fewer choices and some of the old vehicles have survived, plenty didn't of course.

They had fairly simple components, however, take for example my 2005 V70 - it is just full of sensors and modules and all sorts. This is a car in a line up of literally 100's of other cars of its era, who will keep stock of all these sensors and modules? Some are not even readily available now.

Sadly we shifted to a culture of waste, cheap manufacturing and materials has spoiled us, I hate it, I like fixing things, I want a mobile phone to last me 15 years, cars should be bought and kept for longer. The young ones and their terrible waste is just unbearable to me. They seriously think that leasing a £115 a month car, ditching it in 2 or 3 years for another one is a good thing and is the way. It is these people, with that mindset which will mean we cannot have our cars in 60 years time. They will destroy an already rough replacement parts market and will continue to see component quality fall as they are expected to give shorter services. Don't even get me started on the environmental disaster this culture is causing. But we are the bad guys with our 2.4litre engines and high consumptions. That little sandal and grass skirt/skinny jean wearing, ditzy environmentalist thinks their new car every 3 years is the business, no harm done! Sorry I digress.

To keep these cars going I think we are going to need the sort of people who can interrogate ECU's and modules and modify and alter them - these guys exist, I know a guy who hacked his radio and can control most of his car via his radio interface on the CANbus. But you mentioned people in their garages and on their drives.

I suppose it also depends where technology goes. If you told someone 60 years ago that you would be able to buy a machine, controlled by another machine and it would make components itself you would probably have been laughed at, possibly committed. Perhaps in 20-30-40 years we will have computing power that will enable us to interrogate and copy sensors or modules etc. Sounds crazy yes, but that is what people would have said about iPhones 60 years ago.

The next issue is fuel. I think petrol and diesel will be around for a great many decades to come, but not as we know it, not in a dedicated retail environment dotted around the country. But as our dependency drops the price will fall then rise as production falls. Perhaps in 60 years time getting a gallon of fuel will be like buying flashbulbs for a camera now!

Not sure I am looking forward to THE future, I don't mean personally my future, I just don't think the future will be as good as the last 60 years. People think they are fixing things, with the snowflakes and woke brigade and people upset about our heritage and culture not following todays guidelines they are "fixing" it all. What are we going to be left with?

1984 seems realistic now - when I first read it, it delivered exactly what the cover said it would - a dystopian social science fiction novel - now I am not so sure, perhaps the cover ought to have read "A guide to the 2030's".

We must slow population growth and manage our future - every other common discussion relating to the future and environment shall be solved by dealing with the real problem the problem no one will really admit or discuss.