New Vehicles Emerge

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One reason why energy-efficient cars have not dominated the automobile market originates in resistance to change, either by manufacturers or by consumers. Small minor changes always gain acceptance faster than drastic changes, and so the world’s push toward environmentally sensible cars has come in baby steps. An increasing number of drivers in North America and Europe now accept new electric cars and gasoline-electric hybrid cars because they know these models cause less harm to the atmosphere than conventional combustion-engine cars. But these alternative choices remain only a small proportion of the total vehicles on roads today—the automobile industry continues to refer to alternative vehicles as a “segment” of the industry.

Automotive engineers have a formidable challenge ahead of them: to transform alternative vehicles from a novelty choice to the main type of vehicle car buyers want. In time, alternative vehicles may become the only type of vehicle on the road. To do this, engineers must combine their skills

Alternative vehicles that rely on fuels other than gasoline or diesel fuel have become increasingly numerous on
public roads, but they still make up a small percentage of total vehicles. Ethanol-powered cars comprise almost
half of all alternative vehicles; about one-quarter run on liquefied gas. This Honda at a hydrogen filling station
may represent the next generation of alternative fuel vehicles. (National Hydrogen Association)

in developing new ways to power vehicles with designers’ skills in making the vehicles appealing to buyers.

A new generation of vehicles will contain one or more of the following features: an alternative fuel engine; aerodynamic design; a frame composed of all recycled materials; and smaller size. The best opportunity to see examples of new vehicle designs occurs at international auto shows. Ron Cogan, the editor of the Green Car Journal, said in 2007, “The international car shows are a window to what the designers are thinking, and I began seeing actual designs for efficiency.” Cogan and other car experts have been hoping for a zero emission vehicle as the first major breakthrough in car redesign since the hybrid vehicles emerged in the 1990s. Cogan said of the zero emission vehicle, “No one knew it could be done until General Motors unveiled ‘Impact I.’ ” The zero-emission Impact I appeared in early 1996, but shifting state emission laws complicated the Impact I’s rollout
and it never became a marketable car for the public. In other words, the car’s engineering succeeded and its design may well have succeeded, but complicated pollution laws scuttled its future.

Automotive engineers and car designers can refer to Toyota’s Prius to learn how a radically new car concept can become a success. The Prius was the first highly marketable green car, a car designed to cause little or no harm to the environment. The Prius arrived in 1997 with an engine containing components that used either gasoline or electric power, and the vehicle switched back and forth between these two energy sources in a single trip; this new idea was called a hybrid vehicle. A hybrid is any vehicle that uses more than one type of energy source in converting fuel into motion. Several car manufacturers have since built their own hybrid models, and consumers have been enthusiastic toward giving up conventional vehicles

Car designers and engineers have tried to develop alternative fuel cars that resemble
conventional combustion engine cars. By designing according to a traditional
appearance, new models will appeal to car buyers who want fuel savings but are
reluctant to buy unusual-looking cars. This 2008 Honda Civic GX uses compressed
natural gas as fuel and can refuel from a specialized appliance kept at home. (Honda
Media Newsroom)

 

for them. Jim Motavelli wrote in 2008 for E, the Environmental Magazine, “[Toyota] has 80 percent of the U.S. hybrid market, and the majority of those sales are the brilliantly designed Prius. The fourdoor Prius caught on both because of its incredible fuel economy—48 miles per gallon [77 km/h] in the city and 45 miles per gallon [72 km/h] on the highway—and because its unique styling makes an environmental statement about its owner. It looks like a hybrid.” The latest green cars have built upon the principles of the Prius and incorporate many of its technologies.

Automakers produce concept cars to test
innovations in fuel use, aerodynamics, materials,
and design. These models are not ready for
highway use, but the innovations they possess
might become part of cars in the future. The
car pictured here is the Aptera made by Aptera
Motors, Inc. This model is completely electric. The
company has also developed an electric/diesel
hybrid Aptera, which gets 330 miles per gallon
(140 km/l). (Aptera Motors, Inc.)

 Most hybrid vehicles like the Prius still depend to some extent on gasoline. Fuel efficiency in these cars relates to the means in which they conserve gasoline. Next-generation green cars, however, will move beyond gasoline altogether. Ron Cogan pointed out, “If you look at the
big picture, at some point we will exit from oil.” New cars will combine alternative-fuel engines with designs that maximize energy-use efficiency. The table on page 72 describes some of the prototypes (also called concept cars) that car manufacturers have unveiled in an effort to create a truly new car. Whether these ideas succeed or fail may not be as important as the fact that big automakers were willing to attempt completely new car designs.

Getting prototypes off the drawing board and onto the road requires cooperation among manufacturers, suppliers, retailers, and government. The Green Car Congress has stated, “The path to sustainable mobility is complex, with numerous competing and complementary approaches to alternative energy sources, production, distribution and applications; fuel and power-train

options; materials; safety, economic and environmental considerations
and trade-offs; policy issues; and different time lines for research, development
and deployment.” The role of carmakers is explored further in the following sidebar “The Automobile Industry.”