The Cars of the Future

"For a century the gasoline engine has remained largely unchallenged, seeing off all pretenders to its crown. But with concerns about greenhouse gas emissions and a host of new contenders looming large in the rear view mirror, is the gasoline-fueled automobile due to be overtaken by a fleet of cleaner, leaner rivals?

The Lightning GT is an electric sports car which does 0-60 is less than four seconds.



SCIENCE THAT WILL CELL?

Hydrogen powered cars are emissions free -- expelling only drops of water from the exhaust -- and fuel-cell technology is proven. NASA has been using hydrogen to power space missions since the 1960s.

A fuel cell works by converting chemical energy into electrical energy which in turn powers the vehicle. Unlike electric cars, hydrogen-powered vehicles don't need recharging.

Earlier this year, Honda became the first manufacturer to complete production of the first commercial hydrogen fuel-cell vehicle -- the FCX Clarity -- which is powered by a 100-kilowatt V Flow fuel-cell stack.

But they are expensive -- "hundreds of thousands of dollars each," says Honda -- and only 200 have been made (by hand). Honda is leasing out the FCX to a variety of hand-picked customers, including actress Jamie Lee Curtis and Japan's Ministry of the Environment.

Dozens of motor manufacturers are currently designing new cars with fuel-cell technology.

As part of its 2009 centenary celebrations, the United Kingdom's Morgan Motor Company is developing the LIFECar -- a lightweight fuel-efficient car based on the chassis of the company's Aero 8 model.

The LIFECar is powered by a small fuel cell (22 kilowatts) which has been built by British defense contractor QinetiQ. It has a set of ultracapacitors which helps it to accelerate a lot faster -- zero to 60 miles per hour in six to seven seconds.

Malcolm McCulloch, leader of the Electrical Power Group at the UK's Oxford University is helping Morgan with the electric motors and power electronics on the car.

"At the moment we are still doing tests on the car, but it looks like it will be emitting around 50 grams of carbon per km equivalent, which is five times better than most vehicles will do now," McCulloch told CNN.

As the most abundant chemical element in the universe, hydrogen isn't about to run out, either.

Professor Rob Thring, Chair in Fuel Cell Engineering at the UK's Loughborough University, told CNN: "If you go out a buy a bottle of hydrogen today it will almost certainly be manufactured from natural gas -- which is not very green.

"But there is a better way. If you electrolyze water using electricity you've made from wind turbines, wave or solar, then you can say that you have completely carbon-free transportation.""

-http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/science/12/03/future.car/index.html

Too bad these cars are so expensive, otherwise I would force my parents to buy them. I hope they start making a lot of these cars soon so the problem with global warming willl reduce. How come Americans can't think of this? I'm sure if it is sold in London expensive, it would be even more expensive here in America. Also, people wouldn't need to worry about gas and stuff anymore. I wonder how it will work though, like how do will we fuel up the car and stuff.