Throwing Shade

Smart cars can connect to your phone, your home, and your local restaurant, but why can't they do anything about the sun in your eyes?

- ELANA SCHERR

Walk up to your car nowadays, and it recognizes your key fob and unlocks the door. It might also set the seat in your preferred position; wirelessly connect to your phone; change the interior accent lights to the yellow, green, and purple you chose last Mardi Gras and never updated; and ask if you want to play Centipede or maybe order a pizza. These are crucial upgrades to the motoring experience, and if this were 1982 or, heck, even 2012 (the pre-Apple CarPlay days), this hypothetical car would be a mind-blowing feat of futuristic technology. In 2022, it's just a Subaru. Or a Dodge. Or pretty much any moderately optioned new model from the past couple of years.