Many automakers are incorporating new technologies into their current and future designs. High efficiency automobiles including the Smart Car are greatly improving fuel mileage. Gasoline-electric hybrid cars are already available and the demand for them is growing. In addition to the new hybrid designs, other technologies are being utilized which will utilize alternate energy sources. Some of the technologies being incorporated into new automobile designs include gas-electric hybrids, fuel cells and biomass fuel sources including methane.
It is likely to be 10-15 years before alternative fuel and engine solutions become mature and widely available, therefore improvements to the internal combustion engine still have an important role to play in reducing transportaion energy needs. Currently a typical car only uses only about 15% of the energy in the fuel to move the car down the road or run major accessories (air-conditioning).
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