5 ways driving is set to change in the near future: air-cleaning cars to mind control

Among the jet packs and 3D-printed vitamins were some pretty darn exciting advancements in vehicle design, function and accessibility, and we've broken down our picks for the five biggest ways driving as we know it could change in the years to come.It's worth noting that every concept listed below is either production-ready or currently in development, and so these types of cars – and ways of driving – may hit the road sooner than you think.Self-driving cars have been on the lips of drivers and manufacturers for years now, and while a commercially-viable, totally-autonomous consumer vehicle isn't yet on the cards, the world's major car brands are working hard to stay abreast of developments in this area.Tesla has, for some time, been ahead of the pack when it comes to self-driving vehicles, with its Full Self-Driving (FSD) mode allowing certain models to maneuver around other cars and objects independently.However, the company still remains subject to legislative roadblocks that prevent fully-autonomous vehicles being road-legal in most countries, even if that technology were readily available (which is an altogether larger question). The Microlino EV is neither quick nor boasts a long range range – it's got a top speed of 55mph (90km/h) and can run for up to 200km (around 125 miles) – but the success of similar cars, like China's Hongguang Mini EV, proves that today's consumers are just as interested in cheap, clean, no-frills vehicles as they are the fastest roadsters.These dinky motors won't entirely replace the standard vehicular fare, of course, but expect to see smaller and smaller packages coming to a street near you.Yes, you read that right. It's a concept Arrow Electronics is working on with haste, so it may not be too long before driving becomes truly accessible to all.OK, maybe this one is a little out-there, but we did get our hands on some tech that may one day see us using only our minds to drive – not just using our brains to make decisions, but rather driving a car using the power of our thoughts alone.Silicon Valley-based tech company Emotiv develops world-leading wearable electroencephalography (EEG) products – devices that monitors brain activity, basically – including wireless neuroheadsets that convert our electric brainwaves into communication with robotics. At Goodwood, Emotiv demonstrated its tech through the mind-controlled piloting of Scalextric cars – and it really works.Thought-controlled vehicles may be a little further away than the rest of tech featured here – certainly for full-size cars – but we could still see them arrive (in prototype form, at least) in the relatively near future, especially given that the basic principle of 'think to go, think to stop' works so effectively with their miniature counterparts.In the meantime, though, we'll stick to putting our pedal to the metal.Axel is a London-based Staff Writer at TechRadar, reporting on everything from Elon Musk to robot butlers as part of the site's daily news output.