5 Features You May Not Know You Already Have Installed in Your Car
Car manufacturers are always looking for ways to incorporate modern technology into their designs. This has led to a variety of developments, including the evolution of cars. Even if an automobile isn’t “smart” by design, automakers look for ways to modernize and use smart technology to enhance them.
Here are five features you may not know you already have installed in your car:
1 – Onboard Wi-Fi in Cars
Though it’s appearing slowly, cars are starting to incorporate wi-fi technology into their designs. This means that your capable mobile device can connect to the car’s wireless network. It’s a unique way to get online while on the go, providing much-needed convenience to riders.
It’s not expected to gain traction, however, as automakers are wary of potential network security risks.
2 – System Alerts
Some vehicles now come equipped with sensor alerts that notify users of any issues with various parts of their cars. Nissan’s latest automobile lines include tire pressure sensors that will indicate whether a tire needs refilling. Essentially, this takes a lot of the uncertainty (and risk) out of the equation.
Depending on the make of your vehicle, you may also have system alert sensors for things like oil, brake, and other functions.
3 – Driver Automation
While we’re still far from completely self-driving cars, many newer models incorporate similar features to help with driving. These include auto-correction, traffic alerts, and automatic brakes. The idea behind them is to compensate for human error.
If your newly leased automobile heralded itself as a breakthrough in security, it more than likely has auto-correction features already installed.
4 – Bluetooth Compatibility
The nice thing about Bluetooth is that most automobiles already have it installed, meaning it’s not only part of newer models. If not, adapters exist to work with most cars without Bluetooth compatibility. This means you can hook up your Bluetooth enabled device of choice to your car and listen to your music, playlists, and even YouTube videos.
5 – Parking Assist
Many cars now include functionality for parking assist, whether in the form of rear-view monitoring or automatic parking.
It’s likely you’ve seen examples of the former, where a video feed shows the driver exactly what’s behind them. Newer innovations will also help with parking, whether reverse, forward, and in some cases even parallel. This is important, as parking can potentially place the driver and pedestrians at risk.
These are just a handful of features found in modern cars. Other features include things like cruise control, collision detection, adaptive headlights, and many more.
Ultimately, it is likely that car companies will begin producing fully self-driving vehicles that are also completely fuel-efficient. However, we’re still a long way from these implementations. If you don’t know much about your car, check “under the hood.” You may be surprised with what features you’ll find.