Bird Lovegod: How the transition from mechanical to electrical cars will revolutionise transport

What joy. The clutch went on my car, and I had the pleasure of chatting to the mechanic as we strolled over to check on the corpse.
Electric cars are growing in popularity. Picture: PA MediaElectric cars are growing in popularity. Picture: PA Media
Electric cars are growing in popularity. Picture: PA Media

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“Cars … They’re too complicated these days.” Ah yes, the familiar response to the encroaching technological advancements. Too complicated. And indeed they often are. Modern cars, especially those with an abundance of ‘comfort features’, are more like hardware and software systems than mechanical transportation machines.

The mechanic reminisces over his 35 years of experience. It used to be, a part went wrong, you took it out, binned it, and put a replacement in.

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Now, you have to diagnose what the problem is with a computer, then track down what’s really causing the problem, then you have to install a new component, then, you have to inform the vehicle of the new component, it’s like adding a new drive or printer to a computer.

I ponder this. It’s a common feature of modern technology. Perhaps it’s because we’re transitioning from mechanical internal combustion engines to battery powered electrical motors, and we’re in the awkward bit in the middle.

Will it be better when cars are totally electrical? Which presumably they will be, given another decade or so. When the batteries are better, which is an ongoing process and the infrastructures are put in place, recharging points, and so forth.

A mechanics job must be quite hard these days. It’s gone from grease and engines to computers and microchips. It’s like being a computer engineer, and in the next decade, that’s basically what they’ll be.

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I suspect cars and the concept of personal transportation will have radically evolved. I discovered BlaBlaCar this week, a badly but memorably named ride sharing app, next time I go to London I’ll probably do so in the passenger seat of a stranger’s vehicle.

I know some people envision a city future where cars are more like the electric sharing bikes offered by Mobike and Lime, rent them by the minute, collect, drive, leave. No hassle, no problem, no repairs, no fueling, no ownership.

And when the cars aren’t in single hire use, they can drive themselves around as taxis, picking people up, and if the cars are too clustered in one place, they can arrange themselves accordingly, because they’ll all be networked together and all know exactly where each other are.

And when they need recharging or repairs or cleaning they’ll head to the depot where a robot will do what’s required. Maybe a ‘mechanic’ will observe. ‘Mechanic’. Even the word begins to sound out-dated.

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The transition from mechanical to electrical is our industrial revolution and no better demonstrated by the evolution of the car, and our relationship with it.

I’m looking at a £400 bill to fix a £700 Fiesta and I’m wondering if it’s worth it. Do I really need a car these next few months. Probably not, to be honest.

Looking further beyond that, I think the question will be reversed. Do our cars really need us? Same answer.

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