The auto industry is moving forwards at alert rates. A car is no longer just a tool for you to travel from place to place, it’s fashion, it’s status, it’s performance, it’s technology incarnate.
When taking environmental issues into consideration, cars proved to be a huge detriment to the very air we breathe and a delight we could own on limited resources. And thus came a new branch of technology altogether – how to make cars better, cheaper, stronger and less costly?
Answers did not hesitate to pop up and so we found ourselves dealing with all new types of vehicles – hydrogen-fueled cars, electric cars, hybrid cars and lately, even autonomous, self-driving cars.
While many of the things we’ll be talking about will be no surprise to many of you, having been around for quite some time now, let’s just sit back for a while and see what has been cooking lately in the world of innovative cars.
Hydrogen-fueled cars
It’s no joke, and it’s finally here. Presented at CES 2015, the Toyota Mirai is the first hydrogen fuel cell vehicle that has been put on sale for the general public. While there’s a handful of companies actively working to develop technologies applicable in automobiles in day to day life, so far we have only seen few test models and prototypes on display.
From many perspectives, hydrogen-based technology for vehicles seems to be the answer to a pollution free future. By burning hydrogen in an internal combustion engine or alternatively, by reacting hydrogen with oxygen in a fuel cell, you can get a car that will run on the one element our universe is literally packed with.
Dr. Michio Kaku, famous theoretical physicist was a special guest at the Consumer Electronics Show 2015 in Las Vegas and held a speech regarding the many reasons he believes that Toyota has finally managed to nail the perfect car.
A few of the arguments presented were the abundance of hydrogen, lack of exhaust or any form of fumes, the way the engine is built – scoring a complete absence of moving parts, and lastly the diminishing costs that we can expect in the future for hydrogen fueled vehicles.
Now, sadly, when I say diminished, we’re still talking tens of thousands. However, it was originally estimated for these types of automobiles to go up to hundreds of thousands of dollars – the $57.000 that consumers will have to pay for the Toyota Mirai is a surprise to us all.
Furthermore, Dr. Michio Kaku also insists that as governments begin to fund the mass production of these types of cars and fueling stations go through the adaptive transformation that comes with it, prices will drop even further.
And that’s not even the best news yet. Toyota has announced that all of the 5,680 patents that it owns in regards to hydrogen fuel cell technology will be made available and royalty free for anyone who wishes to take this trade a step further and bring the next level of innovation to this branch.
The Toyota Mirai has a range of 300 miles per fill and goes from 0 to 60 miles per hour in nine seconds. It’s not your regular sports car, but it’s definitely impressive.
Unlike electric batteries, a complete refill would only take 3 to 5 minutes and no more. It’s almost like your regular gas-based vehicle, but unlike it, the fuel cell technology implemented combines oxygen and hydrogen to create electricity to power up your car and exhausts nothing else but… water.
It will be made available in Japan and California first given that the areas in question are already host to several hydrogen fueling stations.
What else is there to expect from the world of hydrogen-fueled cars? As we speak, fuel cell buses are being trialed by a number of manufacturers all over the world. An already developed hydrogen-fueled bus developed by Tata Motors and ISRO is currently being tested in India and expected to make it out on the roads sometime this year.
Quads and tractors are also in the plans, but currently only in concept phase. Either way, out of all the possible options given by technology right now, hydrogen seems to hold the most potent key to what we’re looking for.
Electric cars
The history behind electric cars is a little strange to say the least, popping up and vanishing from records several times in the last century and a half. The first one that first made its way into existence is the one built by Thomas Parker in 1884, unlike to popular belief. Many attempts, models and prototypes were built over the course of the next 100 years, with a sudden revival of interest towards battery-powered vehicles only being manifested in late 90s and early 2000s.
So, starting with the global economic recession that settled in in late 2000s, manufacturers starting to look for new methods of making up for the worrying increase in gas cost and gas consumption by many of the cars that were being developed.
The first new-gen electric vehicle available for purchase for the general public was delivered in 2008 – the Tesla Roadster. It didn’t get an amazing amount of attention, having only sold 2,250 units over the length of almost 4 years.
Many more cars manufacturers picked up on the trend and continued to release more and more models of battery-powered cars onwards. In the United States for example, even President Barack Obama got involved in the transition towards an electrically-powered age, and focus less on oil technologies.
In comparison to internal combustion engine vehicles – that’s saying cars that rely on oil fuel – electric cars are significantly more costly than their counterparts due to the increase in lithium-ion battery packs.
Recharging can either be done at specialized stations or even in your own home but the process takes quite a hefty amount of time – ranging from 30 minutes for a partial charge, and up to hours for a full refill. Not only that, but the range that a “full tank” will get you oscillates somewhere at 200-250 kilometers.
So while they are a considerable asset to transportation done right for the environment, all of its aspects seem to be pointing at high prices and not much way for the technology to expand and become viable on long term.
However, this year at NAIAS 2015, Chevrolet has unveiled a concept for a new cars that promises to deliver 200 miles ranges for no more than $30,000. The name of the car is Bolt EV, and prides itself on space, a sleek glass roof and clever gadgets to compliment it.
As if that was not enough and as a major plus, the Bolt EV promises to allow you to fetch and drop off your car via your smartphone application. Yes, it’s a self-parking car.
Hybrid cars
More commonly known as HEV (hybrid electric vehicles), hybrids combine the usual combustion engines with electric propulsion systems. The electric fragment of the ordeal has been developed in the last few years to make use of regenerative technologies that concert kinetic energy created when driving the vehicle into electric energy to charge the battery back up.
While not as clean and pollution free as its fully electric or hydrogen based counterparts, HEVs still score reduced emissions by shutting down the internal combustion engine and shuffling it back on only when needed.
With the limits set on gas emissions making their way into more and more countries’ legislation, hybrid vehicles seemed to have gained a lot of ground and popularity in purchases, many of the models made available for sale selling a number of millions over the course of several years.
While not so much has moved in the world of hybrids lately, most recent developments have been focusing on shifting from the regular combustion engines to hydrogen based ones or biofuels to compliment the electrical propulsion system. One of the most expected hybrids of 2015 is the Chevrolet Volt, arriving at retailers somewhere in mid-2015.
It promises a spacious car that hits the 60 miles per hour mark in 9.1 seconds, can go up to a speed of 101 mph and is powered by two separate engines – the 149-hp electric motor gives the Chevvy an electric-only 38 mile range, while the 84 hp four cylinder gas engine will be working to keep the battery charged and going.
The price for the Volt will start somewhere at $35,000. There is however, one impressive hybrid car concept lurking out there but I’ll hold it for the last chapter of this list.
Between April 8th and 9th 2015 there will be an event being held in New York, US entitled Hybrid Energy Innovations 2015 that focuses on covering the broad hybrid energy landscape and providing a vital networking forum and discuss the newest innovative tools, techniques and strategies that will be put to use in revolutionizing the energy industry in the following years.
Key companies that will be attending include Ideal Power, SMA America, Keybank, Navigant, Sgurr Energy, TDX Power, Green Mountain Power and Car Charging Group.
Self-driving cars
Alright, so self-parking cars are not that impressive anymore? How about completely autonomous, self-driving cars? This year’s CES has given us an outstanding amount of viewing pleasure when it came to what is probably the most fascinating innovation brought to the auto industry by far.
The most awe-inducing display was the Mercedes-Benz F 015 Luxury in Motion – while still just a concept, it baffled attendees with its largely futuristic design. Mercedes depicted how they see the future of automobiles as not just tools of mere transportation, but “private retreats” and places of comfort.
The interior of the F 015 is even more impressive than the exterior – with no less than 6 LED displays set all around the vehicle, you are greeted by 4 chairs facing each other in pairs, with glass panels giving you a grand view of the outside. Even if it’s a self-driving car, you can gain control of the F 015 by making use of the steering wheel – hidden in a storage from the dash when not used.
The entire car can be commanded through spoken instructions and gestures or touch, while laser projection system are used to sense traffic and obstacles. Displays placed inside the car glow white when the car is in manual mode and blue when in autonomous – creating what Mercedes manufacturer calls a “digital living space”.
Overall, the entire model looks absolutely stunning and promises future on a plate. Sadly, there’s no official announcement in regards to when we would expect such a car to become available for purchase. Even when it does, however, the initial price that we can hope for it to go by will surely not go below the 6 digit mark, and it will probably be a long time until the technology is made available to a larger scale. But one can dream still.
While on the autonomous cars, we cannot wrap up without mentioning one model that might become reality way sooner than we thought – the Google driverless car. The license for development has been issued nearly 3 years ago and on May 28th 2014 we were presented with its first prototype.
The testing for the Google driverless car is scheduled to begin in 2015, in the San Francisco Bay Area. The car uses a 64-beam laser mounted on its roof to detect its surroundings and built a detailed 3D map of its location.
However, currently there’s a number of known limitations to it as well such as the inability to function in rainy or snowy weather or detect objects such as trash, debris, potholes or even humans – which would mean it would blatantly just pass signaling traffic officers.
The car also seems to be incredibly cautious in unmarked 4-way stops due to the driving algorithms that were built for it and cannot navigate through parking lots. Sadly. Surely, this vehicle will be used solely for Google’s Maps applications but rumors of Google developing a Robo-Taxi have been resurfacing in 2014, suggesting that an autonomous transportation service might become a reality sometime in the near future.
Roxanne Briean
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