Will the cars of today ever become classic cars?
Of cause they can be parked in a museum, but will they be drivable?
Laura turned 60 years old this year, and the biggest threat to her being drivable in the future is the phasing out of fossil fuel cars.
Who knows what petrol will cost in 2050, and how easy it is to come by.
So what about the new cars of today? Will they be future classics, and will we be taking them to carshows when they are 60?
Every new model is stuffed with more and more technology, and the companies are finding new ways to make everything easier for the driver, and at the same time maximise their earnings.
Car computers are updated via mobile modems, and BMW is the first to offer cars with tech built in, that you can’t use without paying them to remotely enable it.
I won’t even begin on my view on selling a piece of hardware, and then taking money for using it, but BMW seems to think the idea of charging 15£ every month for enabling the seat heater in your car.
Yes you can pay a one time fee, but is that good enough?
I’ll get back to that later…
Today it’s BMW, but I expect that unless there is a crowd with pitchforks outside their headquarters in Bavaria within the next few months, then other carmakers will pick up on the trend, and before we know of it, Jaguar-Land Rover might charge you a monthly fee to activate four wheel drive, and diff locks 😉
Back to the future classic cars. What happens when your future classic has an issue in 10 or 20 years?
Will the dealer support it at that time? What happens if you need to reset a faulty unit, and your car forgets all your one time purchases?
Will the manufacturer (or who ever has bought them) still be able to remotely update your settings?
Does your mobile carrier support the type of network in your cars modem, or will it be like when they killed off NMT in 2012 , 2G and 3G in 2017-2022, where CCTV cameras, burgler alarms etc stopped working, because the modem no longer supported an active network standard?
In 2020 they talked about 4G probably being supported for the next 10 years.
Will you be able to start your car, without it being able to check some on-line database over stolen vehicles?
A 1962 Land Rover Series IIa functions as it did in 1962 and in 1992, but how about a “New Defender” (or any other high-end car in the showroom)?
What will happen to a 2022 “New Defender” in 2052 and 2082?
Will everything work as it did in 2022?
Does it allow you to turn on the heated seating, 4×4 and under bonnet view?
How is the internet connectivity (and will it be updated against security threats)?
What about the built in sat-nav? Are the maps a bit 2030’ish, and are there any satellites left it can connect to?
What do you think? Will everything work perfectly, or are there other issues you can think of, giving a future classic car owner issues?