Technology Advancements

My senior year homecoming, I drove myself part way because my date wasn't able to stay the whole evening. After dinner, he drove me from the restaurant back to my car and I drove myself for the rest of the night. I knew my gas tank was low that night. I hadn't been able to get gas before and it was nearing empty, but the gas light didn't turn on....

...until I started driving after dinner. 

I had no idea how many miles I had until I'd literally run out of gas. I knew my car wouldn't stop running immediately, but I was cutting it close. I drove that whole night living on the edge. I made it to all the places I was going and home without running out of gas. 

I still have the car which I drove to my senior homecoming, but it's not my main vehicle anymore. We recently upgraded my car to a hybrid. Jumping 20 years in car technology was really like traveling through a time warp. I got a sunroof, heated seats, a digital screen, CarPlay, keyless start, power trunk, a built-in dash cam, rear camera, kick open sliding doors, touch unlock, front and back sensors, rear windshield wiper, and tinted windows(!). I'm sure you might be reading this and thinking you had these features 5 years ago, 10 years ago, or even 15 years ago on your car. That's great! All of these are new to me as of 2026.

These features are nice, but by far my favorite feature is the ability for my car to tell me how many miles I have left to drive until empty. Yup, yet another feature I've never had until now. Coupled with the hybrid technology, I only get gas about once a month now and I do a solid 180-200 miles a week on average.  

The last time I got gas, I was able to wait until the middle of the week after I dropped off my children at school in the morning. There's less crowds of people getting gas and gas is generally less expensive compared to getting gas on the weekends. When I made it to the gas station, my car told me I had 73 miles left in the tank. My gas light hadn't turned on yet, and I'd already driven over 573 miles.  

 

 

 

I've never been a "car person" or thought of myself as one, but being spoiled by all of these features has really changed my mind on what I value in my vehicle. I will always view my vehicle as a functional tool to get me from place to place, but when I can do that with some extra "luxuries," it's nice.

I'll never have to panic now if my gas light turns on. I just have to be able to do math. 😜