This article or section contains information about scheduled or expected future events. It may contain information of a tentative nature and the content may change dramatically as the event approaches and more information becomes available.

The future of the automobile is a controversial topic, with some advocates arguing that the car has no future, and others that the car will in the future supplant most other forms of transport. Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Karl Benzs Velo (vélo means bicycle in French) model (1894) - entered into the first automobile race 2005 MINI Cooper S. An automobile (also motor car or simply car) is a wheeled passenger vehicle that carries its own motor. ...

There are significant challenges in the near future to continued use of the car:

• Petroleum refining and car use are major factors in pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.
• 50-70% of US oil production is consumed by cars and trucks. This is more due to the size, weight, shape and power of conventional cars than to necessity (See Messerschmitt KR200).
• Cars are one of the most dangerous forms of transport. 1 million people die each year in car accidents worldwide, of which around 40,000 in the US (roughly the equivalent of one event the scale of 9/11 every month). The car is one of the major killers of people under 40.
• Increasing population and prosperity tends to increase traffic congestion.

Pollution is the release of environmental contaminants. ... Top: Increasing atmospheric CO2 levels as measured in the atmosphere and ice cores. ... Messerschmitt Kabinenroller KR 200 The Messerschmitt KR200, or Kabinenroller, was a three-wheeled bubble car designed by the aircraft engineer Fritz Fend and produced in the factory of the German aircraft manufacturer Messerschmitt in the 1950s and early 1960s. ... Minor collisions such as this one are the most common type of car accident. ... This is a list of motor vehicle deaths in the United States by year. ... The date that commonly refers to the attacks on United States citizens on September 11, 2001 (see the September 11, 2001 Attacks). ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ...

Energy sources

• Hybrid cars (including small or diesel ones) and more advanced combustion engines (eg. gas turbines) will improve fuel efficiency. Toyota intends to have hybrid versions for all its models by 2012, including the hybrid Toyota Prius which is already available. Ford intends to make five hybrids available by 2008. Both Ford and GM have also begun to develop hybrid SUVs. The next step in hybrid technology is Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles. A 2006 article, "Hybrid Vehicles Gain Traction", in Scientific American (April 2006), co-authored by Joseph J. Romm and Prof. Andrew A. Frank, argues that hybrid cars that can be plugged into the electric grid (Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles) will soon become standard in the automobile industry.^[1]
• Utilization of waste heat from the engine as useful mechanical energy through exhaust powered steam, stirling engines, thermal diodes or etc..^[2]
• Dual-mode vehicle or vehicles able to platoon that use relatively small electric motors and fuel supplies or battery reserves for door-to-door service off electrically powered arteries. Some swap battery packs to avoid waiting associated with recharging. This also avoids deep dischage that shortens battery life and makes a smaller and lighter battery pack with logistically infinite range using incremental energy sipping through frequent fully automatic battery exchange at speed. The monorail mode provides superior safety at very high speed.
• Battery electric vehicles have the potential of using locally available sustainable energy resources while at the same time reducing vehicle energy requirements by 1/2 to 1/4 when using batteries to store electricity. A new high-performance electric sports car, the Tesla Roadster has attracted much media attention^[1] since its release in June 2006.
• Hydrogen cars could eventually be produced that use sustainable energy resources and water. The resulting hydrogen could be burned in an engine or converted back into electricity by a fuel cell and its support systems instead of a battery to be powered as an electric vehicle. Due to the additional conversion losses and added distribution and support logistics overall efficiency is currently not as good as current ICE ("internal combustion engine") vehicles. Rather it is far simpler and more efficient (by a factor of three to six by some estimates) to transmit locally available sustainable electricity directly into the batteries of a battery electric vehicle.
• Alternative fuels are being proposed : alcohol fuel, water (see hydrogen fuel), highly compressed air (see air car), garbage, hemp oil, magnetism, solar power, Tesla electric cars (with no car batteries), and high speed electric cars (freeway-capable).

Honda Insight, a hybrid gas-electric vehicle 2004 Toyota Prius, a hybrid gas-electric vehicle A hybrid vehicle uses multiple energy sources or propulsion systems to provide motive power. ... Rudolf Christian Karl Diesel (1858-1913), inventor of the diesel engine. ... The worlds first commercial, oil-free gas turbine is manufactured by Capstone. ... Hybrid Synergy Drive The Toyota Prius is the first mass-produced and marketed hybrid automobile/car. ... This article or section may be confusing or unclear for some readers, and should be edited to rectify this. ... The number of US survey respondents willing to pay $4,000 more for a plug-in hybrid car increased from 17% in 2005 to 26% in 2006. ... Scientific American is a popular-science magazine, published (first weekly and later monthly) since August 28, 1845, making it the oldest continuously published magazine in the United States. ... Dr. Joseph J. Romm was born on June 27, 1960 in Middletown, New York. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Hybrid vehicle. ... The number of US survey respondents willing to pay $4,000 more for a plug-in hybrid car increased from 17% in 2005 to 26% in 2006. ... // The term steam engine may also refer to an entire railroad steam locomotive. ... Cut away diagram of a Rhombic Drive Beta Stirling Engine Design Pink - Hot cylinder wall, Dark grey - Cold cylinder wall (with coolant inlet and outlet pipes in Yellow), Dark Green - Thermal insulation separating the two cylinder ends, Light Green - Displacer piston, Dark Blue - Power piston, Light Blue - Flywheels, Not Shown... A thermal diode is a heat engine which converts a heat difference directly into electric power. ... A dual-mode vehicle is a vehicle that can run on power from two different sources, typically electricity from overhead lines or ground level power supply and in parallel or alternating from an internal combustion engine burning liquid fuels or gas. ... Platoon is a term from military science. ... The Toyota RAV4 EV was powered by twenty-four 12 volt batteries, with an operational cost equivalent of over 165 miles per gallon at 2005 US gasoline prices. ... The Tesla Roadster is the first fully electric automobile to be produced by electric car firm Tesla Motors. ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Hydrogen vehicle. ... A fuel cell is an electrochemical device similar to a battery, but differing from the latter in that it is designed for continuous replenishment of the reactants consumed; i. ... A trolley bus, powered by a pair of overhead wires. ... Gasoline on the left, alcohol on the right at a filling station in Brazil Rising energy prices and global warming have led to increased interest in alternative fuels. ... Hydrogen fuel is potentially an alternative to gasoline, creating a hydrogen economy. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Iron filings in a magnetic field generated by a bar magnet Magnets are materials that produce a magnetic field of their own. ... Solar power describes a number of methods of harnessing energy from the light of the sun. ... The Tesla electric car was an invention of Nicola Tesla, the famous scientist. ... The Toyota RAV4 EV was powered by twenty-four 12 volt batteries, with an operational cost equivalent of over 165 miles per gallon at 2005 US gasoline prices. ...

Materials

• Duraluminum, fiberglass, carbon fiber, and carbon nanotubes may totally replace all steel in cars (potentially improving lightness and strength).
• Nanotechnology-enhanced cars will be stronger than steel which can help to reduce weight and better protect passengers.

Duralumin (or duraluminum) is an alloy of aluminium (about 95%), copper (about 4%), and small amounts of magnesium (0. ... Bundle of fiberglass Fiberglass or glassfibre is material made from extremely fine fibers of glass. ... Carbon fiber composite is a strong, light and very expensive material. ... 3D model of three types of single-walled carbon nanotubes. ... The steel cable of a colliery winding tower. ... Buckminsterfullerene C60, also known as the buckyball, is the simplest of the carbon structures known as fullerenes. ... In the physical sciences, weight is a measurement of the gravitational force acting on an object. ...

Competing solutions

• Bicycle
• Electric motorcycles and scooters
• Walking
• Electric trains
• Trams, Subways, Trolleybuses and Renewable Energy Buses
• Personal Rapid Transit
• Public transport in general when utilisation is moderate or high
• Segway

The list of modes of transport above generally pollute less than the conventional (petrol) car. Additionally they are claimed to have other significant benefits in the following fields: ÅŒfuckỹdgfdddfdefdfdfdfdfdfdaasdfasdfasf For other uses, see Bicycle (disambiguation). ... Electric scooter at the 2005 Vancouver EV gathering Electric motorcycles and scooters are vehicles with 2-3 wheels that attain locomotion via an electric motor. ... An animated demonstration of a six-legged insect walking. ... A typical North American steam train In rail transport, a train consists of rail vehicles that move along guides to transport freight or passengers from one place to another. ... A modern tram in the Töölö district of Helsinki, Finland A tram (or tramway, trolley, streetcar, tramcar, Straßenbahn) is a railborne vehicle (lighter than a train) for transport of passengers (or, occasionally, freight). ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Å koda 14 Tr trolleybus in Vilnius, Lithuania. ... An articulated bus operated by the CTA in Chicago, Illinois, USA. A Go North East Bus parked in a lay-by in Tyne and Wear, England A bus is a large road vehicle intended to carry numerous persons in addition to the driver and sometimes a conductor. ... Artists rendering of SkyTran, a proposed PRT design. ... Skytrain Bangkok. ... Inventor Dean Kamen demonstrates the Segway HT at the U.S. Department of Commerce on February 14, 2002. ...

• Reduced traffic death tolls
• Space requirements, both for parking and driving (extra roads/lanes, sometimes cutting nature zones in half)
• Life-cycle resource usage, and pollution
  • energy expenditure for production and driving
  • air pollution, ground water pollution, toxic waste, noise pollution and climate change, through production, driving and disposal
• Social inclusion
• Economic and social equity
• Liveable streets and cities, towns and villages v.s. sprawl and car dependence
• For some solutions : Increased, regular, low-impact exercise, tailored to the needs of human bodies. This goes for public transport as well to the extent that they are combined in a multi-modal transport chain including walking or cycling.

The benefits of possible future cars, not yet in widespread use, like zero-emissions vehicles over these alternatives, would be It has been suggested that NMVOC be merged into this article or section. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... General Motors EV1 A zero-emissions vehicle, or ZEV will produce no emissions or pollution from the vehicle when stationary or operating. ...

• Increased mobility in rural settings and in some other areas where traffic jams are not severe
• Possibly higher social status
• Overall a better provision for privacy
• Profit for the multinational firms producing cars, and possibly for their employees
• Transology: M.I.T. Future Car Workshop

See also

• Vehicle Infrastructure Integration

Vehicle Infrastructure Integration (VII) is the ongoing development of technology which directly links vehicles with the infrastructure. ...

External links

Cars specifically

• What if Cars Could Drive Themselves? (from U. Washington's Innovative Transportation Technologies website)
• Hypercar Concept - Rocky Mountain Institute

Transportation technology

• [2] RUF (Rapid Urban Flexible) dualmode transport system
• Roadmap of Key Developments in transportation
• Article on platooning and e-guideways from Francis Reynolds, grandfather of dualmode.
• Fuel-Cell Hype vs. Economic Reality, audio interview with Matt Wald
• Wired Magazine, How Hydrogen Can Save America*
• The Hydrogen Economy: Opportunities, Costs, Barriers, and R&D Needs (2004) National Academy of Engineering (NAE), Board on Energy and Environmental Systems (BEES)
• Urban Light Transport website
• Alternative Fuel Vehicle Training From the National Alternative Fuels Training Consortium.
• New Scientific American article

References

This article needs additional references or sources to improve its verifiability. It may be using the words or ideas of other publications in its text, without citing the source(s) of the information. Please help improve this article by introducing appropriate citations. This article has been tagged since December 2006. (help)

1. ^ "Hybrid Vehicles Gain Traction"
2. ^ "BMW unveils the turbosteamer concept", Gizmag, December 14, 2005. Retrieved on 2006-11-15.