Trends in car design
Every area has its own trend or several
parallel trends running together in car design. These trends are usually driven
by echonomical factors like fuel echonomy, political desicions often taking the
shape of specific laws, general esthetic tendencies and the general trend in the
technical development making new functionality feasible. Here are some of the
trends manifesting themselves the early 2000ths:
Driving and road security
Driving security has since far been a constant
force for the development of car design and technical soultions. So far one has
got technology that hinders slide of the wheels and technology than ensures a
softer experience if a crash should something happen. The trend in security
techology is bynow going towards constructing controle technology that sets in
the brakes and takes over the steering to steer away from dangers if they get
too near or accute. Such technology is allready standard or standard ad-ons for
the top models of prestige fabricamts like BMW and Merceds, but it is likely to
get cheaper and be standard equipment in all new car models.
Fuel economy
Fuel economy has allways been a concideration
within the design of cars, but has in the last decennia been getting steadily
more important. There is therefore a constant struggle to make motors that takes
more work out of every unit of fuel. To do so, the basic motor design is made
steadily smarter. Also electronic controle mechanisms that make everything
happen at the right time is a means of achieving best fuel economy.
Fuel economy also have an impact upon the car
design. Fuel economy is an incentive to make smaller cars.For many decennials there has been talk about
going to smaller cars. In spite of this consumers have been buying steadily
greater cars withh some minor swings in the trend form year to year. For example
right after the finacial crises, there has been much talk aboit the great and
heavy American produced offroeaders beeing outdated. It is not probable that a
trend towards generally snaller cars will last. Such a trend is against the
general trends towards a steadily greater echonomy in most countries in the
world and a stedily greater demand for fomfortable soulutions.
To get the best fuel eeconomy, one also
struggles to give the cars more aerodynamic design. Aerodynamic design will
often be equivalent to rounded contours in stead of flat surfaces and sharp
angles. But what is the best aerodynamic shape is not allways easy to know,
because the movement of a car makes complicated turbulent air movements
thatcauses resitance to the movement.
It is a constant struggle to find lighter
materials. This has caused a shift from using steal to using lighter metals like
aluminium and magnesium, to using plastic and even to using strong carton or
paper in the design of cars.
Environmental concideration in car design
The conciderations for fuel economy are also
good for the environment. Environmental conciderations is also an incentive for
making cars that can us non-toxic energy sources that also do not cause a greenhouse effect.
Motors using non-polutant energy sources
that are are allready developed and are steadily being improved. The
infrastructures for furnishment of energy to such cars are being pioneered in
many areas. The most actual energy souces and belonging technologies are
hydrogen and electricity. The problems so far with electric cars have been
limited battery capacity combined with a long loading time, but the batteries
are improving.
Hydrogen has to be produced form electricity
made of non-pollutant and sources that are rebovable or will last for a long
time. solar energy is such a primary resource. Hydroelectric power is another.
In a certain sense electricity made from nuclear processes also belong to this
cathegory, but only as long as the intergrity of the power plants and afterstores for used nuclear fuel are not compromized.
However, there is a definite trend by now
towards making the cars of staedily ligter materials, like aluminium, magnesium,
carbon fibers and high strength plastic materilals.
Artistic conciderations
Artistic design has allways been a part of the
car construction. The design of a car has to fullfill many purposes. It has to
be functional, it has to be confortable, it has to serve securuty demands, and
it has to be esthetically attractive. in addition the manufacturers need for
echonomical production and the limit of the echonomical resources of the buyers
have determined much of the shape a car will get.
For a long period cars have therefore been
produced within very standardized and often minimalistic templates for design.
There is a definit trend towards giving cars a much more artistic design than
has been usual for long. One way this trend will fullfill itself is by going
back to design consepts of the fiftieths and early sixiteths. Another way it wil
shop up is by alltogether new futuristic designs.
Up to now, sharp angles and circular or
semicrular curves have dominated the design of cars. This has the reason in
manufactoring echonomy. By now new computerized design and computerized
production have made it possible to make cars with all types of shapes
economically. This greater freedom of design will have a tremendous impact ot
the shape of new car models in the years fo come.
Some advices about getting the best auto
insurance
When you assign an vehicle
insurance contract ( auto assurance), you want several things from it:
- You want it to be as cheap as possible
- There should not be any holes in the coverage
they sell, except those regarding assets you choose yourself not to be covered by the insurance.
- There should not be any holes in the coverage they sell, except those regarding assets you choose yourself not to be covered by the insurance.
- The company should be easy to contact in the case of an accident?
- You want the expenses to be paid out as soon as possible
- You want the insurance company to really pay out your insurance, and not shorten it, or hold it back on diverse types of arguments, like suspicions that you have acted hasardously or that you try to cheat in some way.
- You want to engage with an insurance company that take the pride to act as honestly against you as the company demands from you.
Consider how much coverage you really need
Many people over-insure their assets. Make an assessment about how wide coverage you really need. For example, if you have an old car, that you do not expect to be on the roads for many years, it is probably not a good idea with a full coverage. You must have a coverage of responsibility for other trafficants and the property of others. you also need a coverage for medical expences if you or your family get hurt. The assurance should also cover rescue in case of accidents and technical break-down.
For an old and cheap car, it is probably not wise to let the assurance cover also the value and repair of the car itself when you are responcible for an accident, a so called full casco.
The reason for this is simple. By setting aside the money you save by restricting the insurance coverage, you have soon enough money for another cheap car.
A wider coverage is probably not wise. For a more valuable car, you should have a full coverage.
How to get the cheapest
insurance
Insurance companies use statistics in order to assess how expensive a customer will be. They use statistics about groups of custumers, as for example people of different ages, people in differnt geographical ares, women or men, professional use of the car, and much more.
They also have statistics about the accident frquency and seriousness of the different car fabricants and models
They also use individual statistics. Based on the accident record of an individual, criminal statistics and more. They assess how expensive the customer will be also based on the record of each customer.
However, do not expect the companies to use the statistics in an entirely honest way. They will often exaggerate the risk of customers with certain caracteristics in order to take as much money from the individual as possible.
They also sometimes do the opposite. They may want a special group as their customers, and make the insurance cheaper than it would be if the statistics alone was to rule.
To get the cheapest insurance, it is important to act carefully in the traffic and follow the trafic rules and other laws of the society.
If you have little money to spend, it may pay off to choose a car that the insurance companies honour with law insurance prizes. Usually that will be a car with a modest motor capacity and a car that statistically is little involved in accidents.
When the time has come to buy an insuranc police, do as follows:
- Do a search for the insurance prizes of several companies for persons with your own properties and the properties of your car.
- Chose 3 or 4 companies. Get offers from these companies for insuring your car.
- Present the offer from the cheapest company to the others, and ask for a new offer that can compesate.
How to get the insurance that
is best when you need it
You must not only choose the cheapest insurance you find, without assessing the performance of that insurance company when you really have an accident and you need the payment from the insurance company. Try to find out what experiences other people has had with the insurance companies you have in mind.
You can do this investigation when you have got a list of the most affordable companies that you will ask for offers. You can also do it as a final controle when you have allready elected a company based on prize.
You can often find out very much by searching about the company in the internet.
You can also find out much by reading through the whole insurance contract of the company.
Try to find data regarding these particular factors:
- Are there holes in their insurance coverage, or is the extent of the coverage unclearly expressed.
- Is it easy to get in contact with the company when you need assistance?
- Does the company pay out swiftly, or do they use a lot of time for investigation and burocracy.
- Do the company tend to shorten the payments or refuse payment suspecting the customerts has acted hazardously or is trying to cheat?