Many people refer to the future of transportation as automobility — a combination of automotive and mobility that allows people to move in new ways. In addition to a traditional, personal vehicle, this includes shared vehicles as well as a whole range of new technologies such as autonomous, connected and electrified vehicles. Research and development have shifted to cleaner, more sustainable transportation, which uses the world’s resources more responsibly and enhances safety and equity. Future technologies will encompass the following.
Connected
To enhance the management of people’s time and energy efficiency
Autonomous
Operation assistance to enhance safety and convenience
Shared
To reduce traffic density and utilize resources more effectively
Electrified
Electrically powered to help reduce the environmental footprint of transportation
These core ideas have been combine to coin the acronym CASE, which stands for Connected, Autonomous, Shared and Electrified. The term CASE is widely used in the auto industry to describe the profound evolution that is transforming the automobile of today into the future light commercial and personal transportation vehicle. With its strong connections to industry, the University of Windsor is building its automotive engineering program around these same four themes.