The Future Of American Cars

What will the future be like? The future of the automobile has been a favorite topic of Movies and television for many years

. What did you think cars would be like in the year 2010? The self-driven taxi from Total Recall? Hovering craft like in Star Wars? We imagined better, faster, cooler cars than ever.

Technology has taken a completely different direction. Cars already do what we need them to do. Hovering would be cool, but wouldn't really serve any other purpose. Cars already have sufficient speed that the highway patrol has to try to slow people down. A lot of the time we can't even use the speed our cars are capable of because there's too much traffic. Aesthetics are still important, but rather than buying the flashiest possible car, people are choosing streamlined, attractive cars. After market upgrades are made to blend in with the original - boring - look of the car. Huge improvements in reliability and safety have become more important than other considerations.

So what do we need from our cars that we don't have? Even more practicality, in the form of fuel efficiency. Driving our cars is hard on our wallets because the price of gasoline has risen so much. The most recent innovation that's catching everyone's attention is cars that run on less gasoline, or even better, no gasoline at all. There are a lot of options for accomplishing this goal, from propane to hydrogen to biofuels. None of these technologies is perfect yet, especially economically.

In the last few years, one technology has taken the lead and reached the car dealership: electricity. Hybrids have been here for a while, and fully electric cars are appearing now. Toyota was the first to get its hybrid, the Prius, to consumers at a reasonable price. The other automakers weren't far behind. Choices now include the Infiniti M35, Nissan Altima, Ford Escape and Honda Civic. Cadillac's Escalade and GMC's Sierra prove that hybrids no longer have to be only small, lightweight cars. The government has helped by offering incentives to those involved in manufacturing or buying cars that use less gasoline and are less damaging to the environment. You can go buy one of these cars today at your local Riverside Ford Dealer, Tustin Hyundai Dealership or Texas Infiniti Dealership with no problem.

The fully electric car is the next wave. They've been out in very small numbers until now, seen at car shows or as part of a fleet of cars driven by the local electric company. Finally cars like the Nissan Leaf and the Chevy Volt are hitting showrooms. New cars are clearly headed in this direction despite unresolved issues like price of batteries and limited range.

One innovation that gets a lot less attention is just good old fashioned fuel efficiency. A car can run on gasoline, but use a lot less of it. This is a technology that's been slowly but steadily improving for many years. There are gasoline powered cars getting 34-35 MPG - the Honda Civic and Ford Focus to name a few. This was unimaginable back in the 80's when gas was only $1.35 a gallon and we loved our V8s.

So while we're unlikely to see cars like the DeLorean from Back to the Future or Kitt from the Knight Rider, cars will continue to evolve to meet our ever-changing needs. America's love affair with the automobile is far from over.

by: Hannah Valez.

POST COMMENT

Myrtle Beach Is Calming Any Time Of Year Learn How To Score Excellent Rates On Myrtle Beach Vacation A Vacationers Fundamentals In Getting The Superior Niagara Falls, Canada Inn And Visiting Its Touris The Evergreen Actor Harrison Ford Ties a Knot to Gorgeous Calista Flockhart Usher is now working on plans for a tour in which he will perform for audiences comprised of only females entitled One Night Stand Trying To Make Your Car Run On Water For Conservation Tomorrow Pinging Your Sitemap to the Search Engine An Insight Into Lanzarote Airport Car Hire Vacations In Liverpool, England The Origin Of The Modern Garage Was The Barn The Facts That Make Chinese Search Engine Marketing An Attractive Option Buying Antique Car Parts Check out Pattaya Elephant Village in your next Vacation Audio Converter