Autopia
The Future of Cars
Jon Bentley of the popular British show Top Gear examines recent innovations in automotive technology and considers what they portend for the industry in Autopia: The Future of Cars.
The book’s discussions of topics like driverless cars come with a wealth of technical information, including explanations of the components that allow the vehicles to sense what’s around them, interpreting data faster than a human brain can.
Bentley’s treatment of alternative fuel sources covers the challenges of creating charging stations that can fuel electric cars fast enough to replace gas stations, and of producing enough of these to let electric vehicles reach scale. He also considers the companies involved in technological creation and deployment, as well as the timelines for when specific automotive innovations might become common sights on the world’s highways.
One of the most interesting chapters looks at the future of “classic” cars, considering how the enthusiasm of collectors, and nostalgia for current vehicles, may collide with fuel and parts scarcities. These possibilities aside, Bentley ventures a guess as to which current cars are most likely to become future collectibles. And his book also considers problems that have not been solved, and challenges that still need to be managed, with projections for how both might work.
Autopia is packed with information that’s presented in a conversational way, exhibiting both expertise and clear enthusiasm for cars and how they work. The future of cars is going to look a lot different, Jon Bentley knows, but that may just be a positive.
Reviewed by
Jeff Fleischer
Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The publisher of this book provided free copies of the book to have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. No fee was paid by the publisher for this review. Foreword Reviews only recommends books that we love. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
