Common Sense Note
Parents need to know that this documentary-style series is about cars, trucks, and alternative transportation of the future. It features people who are passionate about their work and successful at imagining, planning, and constructing vehicles and other transportation-related structures. While the show feeds America's fascination with car culture, it also offers alternative energy concepts. And the focus isn't just on high-priced luxury vehicles, but on public transportation options, too.
Families can talk about their ideal form of transportation. What would your "perfect" car look like? What features would it have? What could improve the public transportation options near you? What's the wildest transportation concept you can think of? How do you think life will change in the future? How accurate do you think TV and movie versions of the future are?
Common Sense Review
Reviewed By: Sierra Filucci
As drivers buy more hybrid and electric vehicles, the way our highways look is changing. Rather than old-fashioned gas guzzlers, luxury SUVs are sharing the lanes with fuel-efficient, sometimes futuristic-looking vehicles. FUTURECAR brings the world of alternative energy vehicles -- as well as hyper-luxury and super-speed cars (some of which look as dramatic as the Batmobile) -- into view.
Through interviews with car designers and engineers from around the world, this documentary-style series introduces viewers to the vehicles of the not-too-distant future. Episode topics include cars that push the limits of speed (including a battery-boosted vehicle that can travel at up to 350 miles per hour), unique car materials, and alternative fuels. Each episode also checks in with a team of design interns working at GM.
In addition to cars, the series also explores the future of public transportation and ground shipping. For example, one episode featured an idea for a taxi that would travel along special tracks built alongside existing streets and could be scheduled via touch screen in the taxi stand. Because of the technology backing the scheduling function, the average wait time would be about 15 seconds. This concept will be put to the real-world test at London's Heathrow Airport.
Getting a glimpse of the future is entertaining, and learning about the ideas that might soon become part of daily life can be exciting. FutureCar keeps a good pace and features a variety of subjects per episode to keep things interesting. Some of the designers and engineers are colorful characters, which can be fun to watch, though others fall a little flat.
While anyone with an interest in cars will probably enjoy the series, those with a particular interest in transportation, futurism, design, city planning, and engineering will get the most out of it.
Fans might also like Extreme Engineering and Design Squad.
Rate It!
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ViolenceSome segments focus on vehicle safety, and one episode showed repeated clips of crash test dummies. |
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Social BehaviorShows people working passionately, sharing their knowledge and their creations. Some engineers are working to improve vehicle safety or lessen a car's impact on the environment. |
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CommercialismCar-related brands -- as well as car brands themselves -- are featured prominently, such as Shell and Ferrari. Each episode checks in with a team of interns at GM who are working to design the car of the future. |
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Drug/Alcohol/TobaccoNot common, though one episode showed a car designer puffing flamboyantly on a cigar. |
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