Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community - View Single Post - What do you think you'll be driving in 20 years?

Rodney · 04-16-2004, 02:53 PM

This is not a Tilted Motors what's-your-favorite-ride question. Rather, what technology of car or vehicle do you think many or most of us will be driving in 20 years? Still internal combustion? Fuel Cell? Electric? Will the car of the future be bigger? Smaller? Will there be more one-seaters around? Will public transit actually prove to be worth a damn and reduce the need for cars?

Personally, I'm hearing of a growing global shortfall of oil in 5-10 years, given increasing demand (from all the usual suspects, plus India and China), a falloff in new oil discoveries, and flat production in current oilfields. I'm thinking that we'll all have fewer and/or smaller cars and that there'll be more "metro" vehicles: better-technology small electric cars, single-user electric vehicles vaguely similar to the Segway only less dorky and more capable, and maybe more multi-modal transit -- the kind where you can ride a small electric scooter or vehicle to the train, bring it on board, and ride away again once the train gets to destination.

I'm in a minority here because I think electric vehicles have been written off too quickly; fuel cell is a nice technology, but the cost of the hydrogen producing/distributing infrastructure would be huge. You don't need that with electric, and some newer battery technologies would be great for electric cars if they ever get the cost down. But let's not let this all be about electric cars. Just _what_ do you expect to be driving, and why?

04-16-2004, 02:53 PM	#1 (permalink)
Rodney Observant Ruminant Location: Rich Wannabe Hippie Town	What do you think you'll be driving in 20 years? This is not a Tilted Motors what's-your-favorite-ride question. Rather, what technology of car or vehicle do you think many or most of us will be driving in 20 years? Still internal combustion? Fuel Cell? Electric? Will the car of the future be bigger? Smaller? Will there be more one-seaters around? Will public transit actually prove to be worth a damn and reduce the need for cars? Personally, I'm hearing of a growing global shortfall of oil in 5-10 years, given increasing demand (from all the usual suspects, plus India and China), a falloff in new oil discoveries, and flat production in current oilfields. I'm thinking that we'll all have fewer and/or smaller cars and that there'll be more "metro" vehicles: better-technology small electric cars, single-user electric vehicles vaguely similar to the Segway only less dorky and more capable, and maybe more multi-modal transit -- the kind where you can ride a small electric scooter or vehicle to the train, bring it on board, and ride away again once the train gets to destination. I'm in a minority here because I think electric vehicles have been written off too quickly; fuel cell is a nice technology, but the cost of the hydrogen producing/distributing infrastructure would be huge. You don't need that with electric, and some newer battery technologies would be great for electric cars if they ever get the cost down. But let's not let this all be about electric cars. Just _what_ do you expect to be driving, and why?