Mean Clean Machines

The car, at least as we know it, is on the way out. New types of fuel and construction materials are on the horizon, and the look and feel of autos are on the brink of a radical redesign. Driving promises to become more environmentally friendly, stylish and fun. We may not be whizzing around in flying cars like the Jetsons or speeding vertically toward the sky on magnetic tracks as in Minority Report, but we will definitely be traveling in ways previously unimagined.

And we won't just ride in cars--a top U.S. inventor has transformed the lowly scooter into what he calls a high-tech "human transporter," while the humble bicycle is poised to incorporate a few tricks of its own.

Of course, the best way to conserve energy and reduce pollution would be to phase out cars in favor of mass transportation. But let's face it: that's not going to happen. People want a private, comfortable way to get around, and so our love affair with the automobile is as hot as ever. More than 17 million cars are sold each year in the U.S. alone, and demand is surging in developing countries such as China, where sales are expected to grow from 600,000 in 2001 to 2 million in 2010.

Because people won't give up their four-wheelers, the challenge is to reduce the tail-pipe emissions that contribute to everything from respiratory distress to global warming. "We have to build a sustainable transportation technology that doesn't ask people to sacrifice," says John Wallace, executive director of Ford's Think Group. Lighter-weight materials and cars can help reduce overall energy consumption, but the key is to find a better power source.

The first solution, a few years ago, was battery-powered electric cars, like Ford's cute little Think model. But electric cars have less range than gas-powered cars, and it's hardly convenient to recharge the batteries. The newer gasoline-electric hybrid cars, like the Toyota Prius and Honda's hybrid Civic, recharge themselves and go much farther on a gallon of gas than do conventional cars, but they aren't pollution free.

Many industry watchers believe that the fuel of the future for powering electric cars will be hydrogen. Special fuel cells can combine hydrogen with oxygen to produce electricity, driving a motor that can spin the wheels of the car much more quietly than a gas engine can. The only thing spewing from the tail pipe is water--pure enough to drink. Because fuel cells and electric motors are more compact than bulky internal-combustion engines, the new technology will free up the shape and design of cars.