When I bought my current vehicle about 5 years ago, I thought I had it all. It’s a Toyota Camry Altise and a big step up from my 30 year old Datsun 200C, which, when bought new in 1981, had all the latest equipment and was like a Rolls Royce to drive. Japanese manufacturers had spared nothing on it. As a senior, the Altise is perfect for me as it also has exactly what I need for local shopping and occasional highway trips.
The problem with today’s products, whether it’s cars or anything else, what you buy today is quickly made obsolete by something better tomorrow. That’s how I felt when my niece gave me a ride in her hybrid Toyota.
The trip in this vehicle left me somewhat speechless. Noise levels are practically zero when driving and when stopped you can’t hear a thing. Thinking it had been cut, I made a comment about it. That’s when he explained about the battery.
As one drives it, the battery recharges and is always the means to start the vehicle before the gas side is activated. The ride in it is beautiful, and inside the vehicle you have more functional tools, including the outside temperature display. My immediate thought was that I want one, but my finances are quite limited so it will take a while to get there.
But even before that thought died in my head, the news is for fully electric vehicles, which are now hitting the market in greater numbers. The batteries in these do not recharge while the car is being driven, but service stations now supply electrical outlets for that purpose.
But wait, now something new has been manufactured to surpass even these. The driverless car is coming off the starting blocks and already at least one manufacturer is taking orders. Where and when will we arrive at a vehicle to satisfy all the demands? The driverless buses are now being tested to drive around Sydney’s fairgrounds in six months’ time.
Driverless trains will also be used on the new rail link between Sydney and the north-west suburbs in a couple of years. wow! What a time to decide on a new car, or even a second-hand one. The Australian government has already announced that no petrol cars will be sold here by 2030 and possibly soon after that they won’t be registered.
This is certainly a change in the decision of the vehicle and the purchase times. While wishing for a hybrid because now it is already old and obsolete in future terms. In the meantime, though, it has to be the most fuel-efficient car on the road today.
