[Ram22693]

Originally Posted by Geo_Ipe

If you can, so can others with hacking skills! Don't overestimate tech and underestimate the thieves!

That is something that I feel over all sorts of "connected cars" and "Self-driven" cars and basically, any car that has internet integrated within. I understand how it can be misused, but I also believe these features will become common in the future.

[yashg]

Today, while leaving for work, I came out of the lift in the lobby and it was raining cats and dogs. My car is parked some good 200 meters away from the building entrance in the open. I had the umbrella but getting to the car in that rain with wind and with a laptop bag and tiffin bag in hand I would get semi-soaked. Worst part, will have sit in the office with wet shoes and socks! I dearly wished if only it was possible to call the car from the parking to the gate. If I could control it like we can control drones. Just take the car out of parking and bring it to gate, controlling it on your mobile phone like a video game. The car can crawl at 10 Kmph for all I care. Just the ability to move it remotely will be awesome!

[dular]

Originally Posted by ellip5i5

Cars of the future will have hardware which will last for 10 years, with the ability to have software updated every 2 years or on demand thus bringing in new features to the customer.

My bet is on subscription services like ventilated seats which we subscribe to for 2 months in the summer or ADAS or self driving for when we want it.

I’m sure we have a revolution coming up, Tesla would be my benchmark from today.

Can not comment on Tesla. But, I do see things moving towards more and more software in cars. Car software makers are looking at innovative and easier ways of moving software across different cars. So, I kind of agree that we might see cars with modular software and with on demand features.

[lordrayden]

Originally Posted by Geo_Ipe

If you can, so can others with hacking skills! Don't overestimate tech and underestimate the thieves!

Originally Posted by Ram22693

That is something that I feel over all sorts of "connected cars" and "Self-driven" cars and basically, any car that has internet integrated within. I understand how it can be misused, but I also believe these features will become common in the future.

To put things in perspective, we already have and are comfortable with using multiple devices that are already "connected" that can and do get hacked: PCs, laptops, tablets, phones, smart watches, etc, etc.

A connected car can be hacked resulting in the owner being stranded, unable to move, possibly crash, etc. In the same way, a connected device can be hacked resulting in stolen identities, crimes committed using stolen identified, lost money, lost relationships, etc, etc.

Potayto, Potahto .

[AKSarkar1]

Strictly speaking from an Indian context, if not readily available then at least these features would be found at an acceptable quality level as an aftermarket option. Until recently, ambient lighting was a thing only found on relatively high class Mercs but now you can get multi colour ambient lighting which although is aftermarket but doesn't feel like it.

I hope that these seemingly premium features today don't further push-up the price of cars, automakers surely know how to add features as a USP and charge their customers for the same until that stuff becomes mainstream again.

How and when these features will come will be a fun guessing game, I find it extremely hilarious that sunroofs (perceived to be a premium feature) has found its way into various mainstream segments of the Indian market but Ventilated seats that are almost an essential for the Indian weather is yet being implemented slowly and steadily!

[Raghu M]

Originally Posted by manpreetsj

I feel following features will become common in mid segment:
1) Better width of car - currently you will see cars below 20 Lakhs pricing to have <1800mm width. That makes the car ideal for only 4. More width is seen mostly in luxury cars today which gives it better road presence and space inside.

That's a very good point. I don't understand how car makers offer so many features but just turn a blind eye to simple seating comfort. What are ventilated seats for when you are cramped in your own car? I bought the 3OO purely for the reasons of safety and cabin comfort. It is a pure bliss when 3 adults can sit at the rear and not rub shoulders. The car is so wide that passenger comfort in terms of seating is well taken care of. At 1821 mm, it is the best in class. I don't understand why car makers cannot improve the width of their cars.

[VNair]

Originally Posted by yashg

I dearly wished if only it was possible to call the car from the parking to the gate. If I could control it like we can control drones. Just take the car out of parking and bring it to gate, controlling it on your mobile phone like a video game. The car can crawl at 10 Kmph for all I care. Just the ability to move it remotely will be awesome!

I have thought/wished about the same many-a-times as this is a very common use case scenario, which I am sure is faced by a lot of us. Implementation of this might not be a huge task for manufacturers, but not sure if it would be approved my the agencies for reasons more than one. Some miscreants could easily use it for say remote car-bombing an area!

[amitayu]

Some features I see becoming ubiquitous:

Connected App based (basic) functioning
360 Deg cam view
Air purifier
TPMS

Some features I wish are offered:
Ventilated seats
Heads Up Display
paddle shifter for ATs

[BrakeDancer]

Given the climate we have here, I feel ventilated seats and AC's that don't crap out under any conditions (I mean, come on, for new models to have AC issues in this day and age is a massive bummer) need to be higher up the chart. Direct TPMS is also a pretty nifty piece of tech to have.

My City 5th gen has the tech to remotely start the engine and set the cabin temperature at your desired level for x minutes via the Honda Connect App. It shuts off the engine after the set time elapses. I believe it's a tech/convenience that's trickled down from luxury sedans that are in a higher price bracket. It's very, very useful in peak summers when you don't want to step into a hot cabin and be uncomfortable for the first 5-10 mins. You step into a cabin that's pre cooled to your liking.

The camera that covers the blind side from the left when making a left turn is also a very handy tool, especially given the propensity of two wheelers to try and squeeze themselves through the narrowest of gaps, and from the wrong side. Probably something that's again tricked down from higher segment automobiles.

[AnandB]

TPMS should be mandatory for all cars i believe with our roads. So many cases when people remain unaware and don't check their tyre pressure regularly.

Also auto-hold feature for automatics which means you don't need to change gear to park or apply parking brake when you come to complete stop. And just need to press accelerator to deactivate it and keep moving as normal. Boon for traffic.

[jeevan_61]

Originally Posted by yashg

I dearly wished if only it was possible to call the car from the parking to the gate. If I could control it like we can control drones. Just take the car out of parking and bring it to gate, controlling it on your mobile phone like a video game. The car can crawl at 10 Kmph for all I care. Just the ability to move it remotely will be awesome!

I beleive this feature was added to the 2021 Mercedes S-class, and was called the automated valet parking mode. I remembering reading somewhere that Mercedes had disabled the feature in the car due to govt. policies on driverless cars and the feature would be enabled to all the cars once the autopilot feature was approved by the government.

[BoxBox]

The most simple way of knowing what is going to become a common feature in Indian cars is to check all of the features offered by the newer Maruti Suzuki cars.

Due to the scale of their adaptability in Maruti Suzuki cars, some of these features would eventually and gradually become a default requirement/offering.

One of the things which I can think of at the moment would be the adaptation of the projector headlamps - which used to be a premium feature and now it is becoming a norm even in the lower variants cars.

[Vkap257]

The true "Luxury features" in my opinion are those which take the basic and mundane features available in low-cost cars and add quality-of-life improvements to them to reduce human effort. Some features that I foresee that are considered "luxurious" today will become common in the coming years are -

1. Powered seats with memory function - No more fiddling with a handle and pushing your body anywhere. Simply hold a button and attain the perfect seating position at any angle, length, height or width. Also, get the same position back even after some stupid valet returns your car with the full Gangsta Lean on your seat.

2. Powered/key operated tailgates and seat tumble function - True comfort is attained when things move with a simple touch and minimum movement of muscles. No more reaching almost above your heads and stressing your shoulders to close what is arguably the heaviest door in your car. And can someone please give a Nobel prize to the engineer which put that small button on the second row of the Kia Karens? The way the seat tumbles and makes way for the third row passenger automatically is the greatest thing since Nimbu-Pani.

3. Auto Hold and hill Hold assist - These are one of those features which actually ruins other cars for you once you get accustomed to them. No more embarrassing rolling back on hills/flyovers and banging into the cars behind. Just press the brake pedal extra hard and witness the power of electromagnets.

4. Remote start/stop using the keyfob - India is a great country with many positives and some negatives. The searing heat in the interiors of the country is one of the negatives which is inescapable. However, what if I tell you that there is a way by which instead of entering your oven-hot car with every surface( steering wheel, gear lever) hotter than surface of mercury, you can enter your car and you are blasted with cool AC air? That feature my friend is called the remote engine start using keyfob, whereby you have to keep pressing a button on your key for 2-3 seconds and the engine of the car will start with AC on max. Any car sold without this feature in India should be a crime.

[Tucker48]

Blind spot monitoring.

Slightly OT as I don't know if the following feature is offered on any vehicle.

1 touch memory adjustment for seat, side and rear view mirror, and/or steering.

[s.sriram1989@gm]

Originally Posted by Ram22693

I booked the Seltos and I know I can start the car using my smart watch If I want to and that is really cool.

I fail to understand the utility of this feature, normally it is used in countries with extreme winters to warm up the vehicle beforehand. What purpose does it hold in India? Ola scooter is having an app based unlock system, customers faced issues with password, network etc and thought what was wrong with a simple lock and key system.