When I first started covering the industry more than 20 years ago, one of the top execs at General Motors used to chastise reporters who were pestering him with questions about The Next Big Thing. ‘Look, cars aren’t going to be that different in five or ten years,’ he said (I’m going by memory so this isn’t an exact quote.) ‘Cars are still going to have doors and steering wheels and do all the same things you expect them to.’ He wasn’t entirely wrong, but it wasn’t exactly a visionary perspective.

I prefer to think that there is technology coming our way which will feel like magic. It’s easy to feel blase about about incremental updates — a slightly bigger screen, a marginally more efficient engine, or a new way to package old ideas. But true innovation is what excites me, the kind that redefines how we move through the world. Autonomous vehicles, for example, hold the promise of transforming not just the act of driving but the entire concept of mobility. It’s not just about taking the wheel out of your hands; it’s about reclaiming time, reducing accidents, and potentially redesigning cities around people rather than cars.

Electric vehicles, too, felt like science fiction not so long ago. Today, they’re increasingly common, yet their potential to change the world remains vast. They’re not just cars with batteries; they’re pieces of a larger puzzle that includes renewable energy, grid infrastructure, and the fight against climate change. If executed well, they’re a step toward a future where transportation isn’t synonymous with environmental harm.

Sir Arthur C. Clarke also famously said, “The only way of discovering the limits of the possible is to venture a little way past them into the impossible.” That’s the mindset I try to keep when evaluating new technologies in the auto industry. Whether it’s quantum computers optimizing real-time traffic flows, AI fighting drunk drivers on the road, or entirely new paradigms of mobility, I’m hopeful. Technology — when wielded with intention and care — really can feel like magic.

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