8 Standard Car Features Now That Used To Be Optional Then

The automotive industry keeps moving and developing. A thing which would’ve been a luxury yesterday can become a standard car feature tomorrow.

Keeping the pace of development and innovation in mind, the carmakers are improving constantly. For if they don’t, they will be sidelined by the competitor. It is due to this competition and the strive to become better than we have achieved so much technologically in terms of cars.

Whether it’s a simple seatbelt or a complex autonomous driving system, our beloved four-wheeled machines keep on evolving.

With them evolve their features. As mentioned in the very first line, things change rapidly in the auto industry. A ‘first-in-segment’ feature might even become standard days later.

Therefore, here we are bringing you a list of standard car features today, which used to be optional a few years back.

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1. Power Steering
   

   

   What seems like a necessity while driving today came as a luxury feature in 1951. The Chrysler Corporation in the United States equipped the Chrysler Imperial with power steering.

   Coming to our own land, the Tata Estate ( Sierra’s station wagon sibling) is considered to be the first Indian car to come equipped with the power steering.

   However, nowadays power steering has become something as basic as a seatbelt, making our car rides comfortable, safer and more efficient.

2. Power Windows
   

   

   Another optional feature that was touted to be luxury but it’s been a standard in almost all the private vehicles these days. Once again, this feat was achieved when Tata launched the Sierra Estate back in the 90s.

   Power windows have turned out to be a feature that should’ve been a standard car feature long back but was waiting for the right time. Although, we’re still thankful for them as they save us from a dreadful forearm workout of the manual windows days.

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3. Seatbelts Reminder
   

   

   While seatbelts were an innovation, seatbelt reminders are an addition to the same.

   The standardisation of car seatbelt reminders goes on to show the ignorance of human life, by humans themselves. Keeping the scarce use of seatbelts in mind, the government of India decided to standardise this feature July 2019 onward in all the vehicles on Indian roads.

   Adding on to that, the minister of road transport and highways, Mr Nitin Gadkari went on to say, he plans to make seat belt reminders mandatory for all seats in a vehicle.

4. Airbags
   

   

   As per our views, we think this should never have been an optional feature ever. Airbags can even be considered to be one of the greatest automotive innovations along with seatbelts. The combination of the two has saved numerous lives around the world in the last few decades.

   Moving ahead with this thought, the government last year made mandatory for all the cars to have at least a driver’s airbag in them. However, recently, a proposal around airbags for the front passengers has been doing the rounds.

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5. ABS (Anti-lock Braking System)
   

   

   ABS is another important feature that is imperative for passenger’s safety in a car.

   All car models, irrespective of its order in the feature list is supposed to have ABS from now on. Anti-lock braking system or ABS is bound to become a standard feature in all the passenger vehicles moving ahead.

   The move is welcomed by many, considering the dismal vehicle safety standards in our country.

6. Reverse Parking Sensors
   

   

   Backing up your car just got easier and safer. The reverse parking sensors are going to be mandatory in all the four-wheelers after July 2019.

   There have been certain instances of children and pets getting injured while reversing the vehicle due to a lack of visibility. This step can help prevent a lot of such events and moreover make parking a lot safer and less time-consuming.

7. Speed Warning System
   

   

   The speed warning system is a standard car feature these days. It is due to the rise in accidents and over-speeding cases that this step was taken.

   While most cars these days sport this feature, it is mandatory for cars made after July 2019 to have the speed warning feature. At 80 km/h the vehicle will beep once. At 120 km/h the warning system will beep continuously to warn the driver.

   The speeds have been predetermined in accordance with the permitted speed on several national highways and expressways around the country.

8. Central Locking
   

   

   The seemingly futuristic technology has gone way beyond just central locking. In the days of keyless entry and summoning your car, central locking seems something way too normal. However, that wasn’t the case.

   Central locking feature came into the limelight much later. Much earlier companies used to provide their cars with manual locking systems, and central locking used to be an after-market accessory. That isn’t the case anymore.

Conclusion | Standard Car Features

We’ve surely come a long way when it comes to automotive innovation. With the ever-changing world and technology, these changes are just going to get faster and bigger.

So, all we can do is, brace ourselves for some other optional and luxury features to turn into a standard car feature.

Also Read: 10 Car Features That Should Be Made Mandatory In 2021