FXSTD – Alternative Energy Center

By: Ethan Williams
Cars of the future have always fired the imagination of car enthusiasts. Given the hazards of pollution associated with vehicles, ‘green’ cars will essentially be the future cars which manufacturers will try to produce.

‘Green’ cars are nature friendly cars built to cut the exhaust fumes ejected into the air. These cars are popularly known as electric cars or hybrid cars. They are made to run on electric, with the help of a rechargeable energy storage system (RESS) or an internal combustion engine. Such cars contribute immensely to limit the amount of pollution to the atmosphere.

Hybrid cars are mainly the future of the automobile industry. These future cars put to use the best of available technology to make cars that will appeal people both for its functionality and appearance. Most car manufacturers are competing fiercely to design high performance future cars to everyone’s satisfaction. The main thrust in producing such cars has been in versions of cars that already exist. This includes coupes, sedans and SUVs. From what it seems future cars will look pretty much the same as non-hybrid cars.

A few hybrid cars developed by manufacturers have already attained a speed of over 60 mpg. This has been achieved by combining lightweight materials with better batteries and latest methods of transferring power. Research is on to adapt bigger cars to hybrids in order to improve the mileage.

According to recent estimates by the beginning of 2009, 350,000 Americans will buy hybrid cars. The share of hybrid market is slated to increase from a 1% in 2005 to about 2%. Though the rise is insignificant, but still the figure is an indication that the demographic is changing. Since these cars are more expensive than the non-hybrid ones, their market share will always remain less.

A popular car on the streets of United States is the smart cars. It is eco friendly and compact and small enough for easy parking. Japan, Taiwan, Canada and Mexico have joined the movement towards providing environment friendly easy to drive cars. In coming years the smart cars is expected to show up more often on the roads.

Apart from extensive research on such cars, manufacturers are working on alternative fuel sources. They are working on the feasibility of combining battery power with another fuel, such as ethanol or hydrogen. The days are not far off when eco friendly cars will rule the roads of the world.