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Future Cars

Saw an episode of the Discovery Channel show Future Car and my jaw was dropping the whole time. In dealing with the sustainability issue of energy for transportation, you have to look at both sides of the problem - the source of the energy and the use of the energy. Two particularly impressive design concepts that we'll likely see in the coming years to use energy and resources better were the following:


  • Loremo - a car that gets 157 miles per gallon of diesel. It could drive from Denver to L.A. (1000 miles) on around 7 gallons of diesel. That would take about 42 gallons of unleaded gasoline in my car. Unbelievable. The core idea here is that there is no point in driving a 150 lb human around in a 1.5 ton vehicle that is specifically designed in a way to be resistant to the wind. There is no need for the vehicle to be that big. So, make the vehicle as light as possible (while maintaining sturdiness) and make it as aerodynamic as possible. Great idea. Could be a bit scary driving it around with all the SUV's out on the road, but you have to start somewhere. It's planned to go into mass production in 2009 for around $20k USD.

  • Tweel - a wheel that combines the tire and the wheel, using just a tread with polyurethane spokes connecting it to the actual wheel. The design uses far less material than the traditional tire.

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