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Jun 23, 2023

183 Future Technologies in 37 Years: What Became of the New Tech?

Related Video By my count, this is MotorTrend's 263rd Technologue column,

Related Video

By my count, this is MotorTrend's 263rd Technologue column, stretching back to May 1982. For the first two years, the page answered readers' techie car questions. Then Ron Grable, Rick Titus, John Hanson, B.J. Hoffman, and Don Fuller took turns mostly explaining new technologies hitting the market.

Between January 1988 and September 1995, Technologue downshifted from monthly to occasionally. During the pre-Markus era, 23 future-tech concepts were explored, my favorites of which were the crazy Waller opposed-piston swashplate engine of September 1986 and the Acro-Tech "Vented Valve" concept of August 1994. Since October 2004 I've mostly used the Technologue page to explore how engineers, chemists, physicists, and scientists of all stripes are working to make our motoring world a better place. For MotorTrend's 70th anniversary, I've spent a month working up this virtual highlights reel.

In all, we've covered 183 future technologies—77 percent of all Technologue topics. Of the concepts highlighted, 36 percent have been developed to the point of production, after an average of 4.4 years. Extensive Googling suggests another 20 percent—including most of the recent topics—still have active research ongoing. If they all pan out, we'll be batting .500!

Topics-wise, I've covered 27 alternate-fuels technologies, 20 battery/EV/HEV concepts, 16 advanced combustion engine ideas, 15 electronics/infotainment topics, and 14 columns each covering chassis and safety.

Another 37 of my favorite columns defy such easy classification—like the HondaJet, the odor-fighting seat upholstery made of shrimp shells, the thorium-powered car, Ford's braille window film that helps blind passengers enjoy scenery, and the Toyota/JAXA lunar rover.

Two of my favorite columns that have yet to bear fruit (as far as I can tell) are September 2008's Dyno On Board, in which 16-year-old entrepreneur Taylor Blackwood dreamed up (and prototyped) a way to outfit a car's driveshaft universal joint so it can report the torque it's transmitting in real time. The U.S. patent office granted Blackwood US7603918B2 in 2009, but I find no evidence of eventual production. (I certainly hope young Taylor has landed a sweet engineering gig by now.)

My other favorite was July 2009's Catom & Eve, introducing the concept of "pario"—an "actual reality" 3-D Claymation-like evolution of today's virtual augmented reality. Carnegie Mellon U is still working on downsizing the microbot "pixels."

Favorite column titles through the years include NuVinci Code—At last, a tranny with some balls (about an orbis and globus CVT concept that is now in production for bicycles), Road Hard (if not put down wet)—Rethinking concrete science (about new longer-lasting, low-CO2, ash-based Portland cement replacements that hit production in 2017), and Noblesse Oblique—Privileged with federal government resources, NHTSA upgrades NCAP (about the 15-degree oblique sled crash test and other revisions arriving soon).

Various methods of turning trash, ag waste, old-car shredder residue, algae, or fast-growing grasses into biofuels have inspired seven tech columns and one political screed imploring our government to institute a floor on the per-barrel price of oil to foster development of these promising technologies. (Oh, the hate mail that one drew!)

I've also given a lot of ink to the idea of running a cheap gasoline engine on more efficient compression ignition. I was so pleased to write GTHO! Mazda gets the H out of HCCI in December 2017, when this nut finally appeared to be cracked by the Skyactiv-X engine, only to learn this year that EPA/CARB certification looks unlikely. Womp womp.

I've covered autonomy only six times. That's because the topic is no fun. Yes, it's coming at us like the inevitable root canal or hip replacement; yes, it should save lives and enable nonstop in-transit mobile-device fiddling for all. I still hate it, so don't hold your breath for tons more coverage on that topic.

Thanks for reading, and feel free to pitch me future column fodder @MT_Markus.

So where are they now? A brief synopsis of every Technologue topic and its eventual outcome is available below.