Next-Gen Mobility: Unveiling the Future of Electric and Autonomous Vehicles: Autonomous Vehicle Technology: A Practical Guide for Mechatronics, Control, and Automation Engineers

The automobiles of the future and their drives will be characterized by great variety, determined by geographical, economic, climatic, and ecological conditions, as well as by customer wishes. A universal car that is uniform, electric, digital, and autonomous has only a limited right to exist. It is undeniable and unstoppable that the living spaces of people on Earth are rapidly shifting towards mega-cities. The division of their living space has also greatly influenced the connectivity-determined content of people's lives and, as a result, their mobility needs.

The automobiles of the future cannot be reduced to this trend, even if the 'automobiles' will be unrivaled in large cities. Automobiles spread throughout the world at the beginning of the 19th century like wildfire. In addition to riders and horse-drawn carriages, limousines, convertibles, and motorcycles appeared. But the visions went much further: mobility in the city, then mobility across the city: Zeppelins, balloons, biplanes, tumbling over the moving cars.

In the 20th century, cities became larger, and the streets became more and more crowded, but there were convoys of aircraft over our heads, streets, and houses. Still, we were spared.

The electric-powered automobiles, which clearly shaped the world around 1900, disappeared relatively quickly. Those with gasoline engines increased, as did the number of pistons. There was plenty of gas, and it didn't cost much. From the middle of the century onwards, petrol engines were increasingly joined by diesel engines, which not only consumed less fuel but also delivered torque almost from the start. However, two oil crises suddenly called oil-based mobility into question again. Electric cars suddenly appeared again and disappeared from the market just as quickly, for the same reasons as the first attempt: short range, heavy, large, and expensive batteries.
The readers of this book will hopefully feel as much curiosity about the factual and easy-to-understand arguments offered as the participants in the author's numerous lectures and presentations on the subject of 'Automobiles of the Future' - students and doctoral students in universities, as well as business associations, organizations, and associations of all kinds in Germany, Italy, France, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Turkey, Israel, and the USA in recent years.