There are a lot of new technologies making their way into vehicles today that can greatly enhance your driving experience and performance. Here are a few components that are currently on the market, and making a big splash.

Fuel-Saving Transmissions

Transmission technology continues to evolve. According to National Transmissions, one of the latest options that is becoming available for the car buying public is a transmission that actually measures the torque ratio while driving, saving fuel, and enhancing performance over existing automatic transmissions. Ford Motors Inc actually developed a torque sensor that delivers real-time information to the Calgary transmission while driving, allowing most consumers that purchase one of their Ecoboost engines to experience better overall performance while driving.

Accident-proofing Radar

The advent of self-driving vehicles, radar, and lidar technology applications for automobiles moved to the development forefront in terms of auto manufacturers and their suppliers are spending research dollars on them to develop more sophisticated offerings to consumers. Like the diffusion of smartphone technology, radar sensing options that are tied to vehicle safety systems were first put into luxury cars like the Lexus before becoming options on mid-price range sedans. The net result is that cars like the 2015 Honda Accord offer a forward collision warning option that places a radar sensor in the front grill of the car. The sensor will detect cars in front of the driver and issue warnings to them when the risk of hitting them is greater than it should be.

Better Batteries

If you are looking at purchasing a hybrid, one of the key determinants is often the range of the vehicle, or how well the battery pack performs. Of all new battery choices, the latest 18650 form factor technology is proving to be a marketplace winner. Different from other lithium ion cells for cars which are large, the 18650 is a cylindrical component that is quite small, making it less likely to be a problem in case there is overheating. Translated to real world application, one automaker that uses the 18650 in production, Tesla, has never had a production car fire due to batteries overheating. Over the past two years, this has translated into almost a 40 percent hybrid automobile battery market share for the top supplier of 18650 batteries, Panasonic. The output of a properly designed array can also provide greater range than that of their larger battery cousins.

Overall, today’s opportunity to take advantage of new technology that will create a safer and more efficient driving experience is one that has not been paralleled in decades.