It’s Finally Happened: In-Car Coffee Brewing

Posted on Jan 6, 2018 in Safety | 3 comments

Yes, it’s real…

So it has come to this.

Our cars serve many purposes in our lives. In addition to the intended purpose of transportation, our cars often serve as makeshift restaurants, makeup studios, kitchens, offices, music players, romantic bedrooms and traveling movie theaters. If there’s a human function in life, somebody somewhere has figured out how to do it in a car.

One thing I thought would never infiltrate our cars is coffee—not drinking it, of course, but making it.

In what might be the most gratuitous example ever of automotive distraction, a French company has designed an in-car espresso machine.

Here’s how Bloomberg explained it:

The Handpresso Auto is the newest addition to Fontainebleau-based Handpresso’s line of portable, hand-held espresso makers. Users plug the machine, about the size of a flashlight, into a cigarette lighter, add water, pop in a pod of espresso grounds (any brand is fine), and press a button. Water is pumped through the grounds at 16 bars of pressure—nine bars is typically considered the minimum—and the drink is ready in two minutes.

If today were April 1, I would seriously question this news story. No way would someone need to brew espresso in their car when machines at home can do the job just as fast and there’s a Starbucks on every corner in every city in the world.

The machine isn’t for sale, yet, in the United States but goes for about $200 at current exchange rates in France. The majority of inquiries, though, have come from the our side of the Atlantic. A company spokeswoman told Bloomberg,

I think the French will be just as interested in the product since they love espresso and drive cars a lot.

Have you ever heard anything so ridiculous? We love burritos and enchiladas, too, but we’re not rolling out tortillas as we drive. In my humble opinion this is perhaps the worst auto accessory I’ve ever heard of. Yes, people love to enjoy espresso while they drive. That’s why cupholders and drive-throughs were invented.