Manufacturers add features to their cars every year to make life with our four-wheeled friends a little easier.
Sometimes, the additions even challenge the dealers’ ability to keep up. Shoppers must learn about new features by word of mouth or spend hours digesting the owner’s manual.
Here are six new car features, some of which might already be on your car without you knowing.
Google built-in
The next evolution in in-car technology, Google built-in goes beyond smartphone projection systems like Apple CarPlay and Android Auto to enable an all-in-one onboard assistant as part of the car’s infotainment system. Like smartphone projection, Google built-in can access your favorite apps via the Google Play Store, but it doesn’t require a connected phone.
Credit: SPECIAL
Credit: SPECIAL
Google Assistant can help with navigation, route you to the nearest coffee shop, send text messages, make phone calls, and answer questions about weather, sports or news events.
Say, “Hey, Google,” followed by your query, and the system does the rest. On specific models, Google built-in can adjust the cabin temperature and operate other in-car functions via voice commands.
Credit: Special
Credit: Special
Manufacturers offering Google built-in include General Motors, Ford, Honda, Acura, Volvo, Polestar, Mitsubishi and Lincoln. Even if you don’t own one of these brands, you can still access Google’s in-car assistant via your smartphone, provided your car has Wi-Fi capability.
Ford F-150 in-bed scale
We’ve all seen the videos where some poor overachiever overloads a pickup, only to have it sag so far down the bumper drags on the ground — or worse, the truck breaks in two. Pickup trucks are rugged but have limits, especially regarding how much weight the bed can handle.
All manufacturers list payload capacity so owners know how much they can haul. The problem is, how do you know when you’ve reached it?
Ford’s clever solution builds a scale into the F-150’s bed. The Onboard Scale uses sensors in the suspension to determine the weight. The system can even give real-time information as the bed fills, allowing owners to add cargo without exceeding the recommended payload.
Tire pressure alert
Most new cars can tell you when your tire pressure is low. Some even tell you each tire’s exact fill level. But wouldn’t it be nice if, when airing up the tire, the car let you know when you’ve reached the correct pressure? Some Nissan and GM cars do precisely that, honking the horn or flashing the lights when you’ve reached the correct pressure.
Built-in vacuum
Anyone with kids or pets knows the importance of having immediate access to a built-in vacuum. The real question is, “Why did it take manufacturers so long to figure it out?”
Credit: Special
Credit: Special
As it is, only the Chrysler Pacifica and Toyota Sienna offer this feature, although older Honda Odyssey vans offered the option between 2018 and 2021.
In-cabin intercom
The in-cabin intercom is an idea that’s been around since the late ’90s. Although the concept was good, the technology wasn’t quite up to the task.
Thanks to improved infotainment and speakers, the driver can quickly relay essential messages to the misbehaving little nightmares in the third row without a single threat to pull the car over and come back there.
In Toyota vehicles, it’s called “Driver Easy Speak”; Honda uses “CabinTalk”; Kia has “Passenger Talk”; and Chrysler likes “FamCam.”
Remote operation for windows, sunroof and power-folding mirrors
The capability to remotely open and close the power windows and sunroof has been around for a while, yet many owners don’t know they already possess the feature.
Modern cars use the key fob or phone app to roll up the windows, close the sunroof and even fold the power side mirrors. Even older Volkswagen, BMW and Mercedes cars offered this feature, activated by rotating the key in the door lock and holding it for a few seconds.
The key fob can activate windows on specific models from GM, Ford, Chrysler, Honda, Toyota, Nissan, Volvo, Mitsubishi, Kia and Hyundai. Oddly, Subaru has never offered the feature on its cars, at least not in North America.
Joe Tralongo is an automotive writer for Kelley Blue Book and Autotrader, based in Missoula, Montana. He has been covering the automotive industry since 2000.
The Steering Column is a weekly consumer auto column from Cox Automotive. Cox Automotive and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution are owned by parent company, Atlanta-based Cox Enterprises.
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