Converting water into fuel is one solution, but making sure we get from A to B as efficiently as possible is the true future of transport
Widespread concern for the environment and record fuel prices add up to one thing – healthy profits for companies that can make cars which are less polluting and cheaper to run. Manufacturers are acutely aware of the opportunities. "Oil consumption is not sustainable right now, plus, we’re compounding the problem with growth," says J. Gary Smyth, director of powertrain research at US carmaking giant General Motors. "We [the car industry] are the major contributor, we are the problem, we have to solve this problem." The likely solution would not please Henry Ford, who famously wanted all his cars to be black, to suit mass production. Instead, variety will be spice of life on the road this century. The number of different fuels, engines, body shapes and materials is set to multiply.
"It is likely that vehicle types will diversify, broadening our concepts of the recent past," says Professor John Heywood of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. "Size and weight may well change too." Some of the innovations are already on the road, and others will be in a showroom near you very soon, displaying imaginative ways to reduce petrol consumption. Lighter cars burn less fuel so alloy frames and plastic bodies are on the cards – and cutting four wheels down to three is a growing trend on urban run-abouts like the Clever (Compact Low Emission Vehicle for Urban Transport) two-seater designed by a European engineering consortium, which includes German industry titan BMW. Eliminating internal combustion engines altogether is another approach. Take electric vehicles: They emit no pollution where they are used and are very quiet, which is precisely why the historic French port of La Rochelle has a fleet of electric cars for hire and why most of its municipal vehicles run on amps not octanes. Nissan plans to start selling battery-powered cars in Japan and the United States within two years and the Port of Los Angeles has already introduced a heavy-duty electric truck to haul cargo containers. The prototype cost US$527,000, but plans for an assembly plant to build a fleet of the electric trucks are at an advanced stage. All being well, the truck will be sold worldwide. Paradigm shifts like this always allow smart players to enter the game and there’s a host of eager innovators keen to plug in and switch on. Venturi, from the Mediterranean principality of Monaco, aims to start selling its $40,000 Eclectic threeseater next year. It has solar panels on the roof to turn sunbeams into electric power and a crowd-stopping optional extra – a wind turbine to top up the batteries
Widespread concern for the environment and record fuel prices add up to one thing – healthy profits for companies that can make cars which are less polluting and cheaper to run. Manufacturers are acutely aware of the opportunities. "Oil consumption is not sustainable right now, plus, we’re compounding the problem with growth," says J. Gary Smyth, director of powertrain research at US carmaking giant General Motors. "We [the car industry] are the major contributor, we are the problem, we have to solve this problem." The likely solution would not please Henry Ford, who famously wanted all his cars to be black, to suit mass production. Instead, variety will be spice of life on the road this century. The number of different fuels, engines, body shapes and materials is set to multiply.
"It is likely that vehicle types will diversify, broadening our concepts of the recent past," says Professor John Heywood of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. "Size and weight may well change too." Some of the innovations are already on the road, and others will be in a showroom near you very soon, displaying imaginative ways to reduce petrol consumption. Lighter cars burn less fuel so alloy frames and plastic bodies are on the cards – and cutting four wheels down to three is a growing trend on urban run-abouts like the Clever (Compact Low Emission Vehicle for Urban Transport) two-seater designed by a European engineering consortium, which includes German industry titan BMW. Eliminating internal combustion engines altogether is another approach. Take electric vehicles: They emit no pollution where they are used and are very quiet, which is precisely why the historic French port of La Rochelle has a fleet of electric cars for hire and why most of its municipal vehicles run on amps not octanes. Nissan plans to start selling battery-powered cars in Japan and the United States within two years and the Port of Los Angeles has already introduced a heavy-duty electric truck to haul cargo containers. The prototype cost US$527,000, but plans for an assembly plant to build a fleet of the electric trucks are at an advanced stage. All being well, the truck will be sold worldwide. Paradigm shifts like this always allow smart players to enter the game and there’s a host of eager innovators keen to plug in and switch on. Venturi, from the Mediterranean principality of Monaco, aims to start selling its $40,000 Eclectic threeseater next year. It has solar panels on the roof to turn sunbeams into electric power and a crowd-stopping optional extra – a wind turbine to top up the batteries
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