Envisioning Tomorrow’s Ultimate Driving Experience

Future cars are set to come with steering wheels that can monitor your heart rate, blood pressure, and oxygen levels—making them even more desirable than coffee machines or flashy augmented reality dashboards. A survey conducted by the UK car leasing comparison site Leasing.com revealed that car lovers are more concerned about safety features than luxury add-ons when imagining their ideal ride.

Out of 100 car enthusiasts surveyed, more than half emphasized safety as their top priority, with 55% rating it as the most crucial feature. These safety features include complete internal cabin airbags and car-to-car communication systems that alert drivers to accidents or hazards ahead—technologies already featured in high-end vehicles like Teslas, though they’re still in the early stages.

There’s also a growing demand for enhanced steering wheels that can provide real-time health data and fingerprint access to cars. This trend reflects the increasing expectation that features found in smartphones and other personal devices should be available in vehicles too.

When it comes to in-car entertainment, 60% of respondents chose augmented reality screens and dashboards as their most desired feature, and 28% voted for a coffee machine. However, the widespread adoption of such amenities largely depends on the future of driverless cars.

As electric vehicles become more common, solar roofs are gaining popularity. Hyundai is at the forefront with its Ioniq 5 electric SUV, one of the first to feature a solar panel roof. This innovation could make EVs even more appealing by allowing their batteries to charge using renewable energy on the go.

“Technological advancements are opening new doors in the automotive industry,” said Dave Timmis, managing director of Leasing.com. “As features like health monitoring and smart technologies become standard in personal devices such as smartphones and smartwatches, consumers are eager to see them integrated into their future cars.”