MIT is hosting a vehicle design summit to try and design 500 mpg cars.
Teams of 6 and 7 will be working on these five designs:
Fuel Cell: Harnessing the power of free hydrogen, the fuel cell car is a promising source of power. California’s proposed “hydrogen highway” will lead the way in a nationwide hydrogen infrastructure.
Biofuel: Harnessing the power of crops allows truly renewable energy. Biofuel combustion doesn’t add carbon dioxide to the atmosphere, because photosynthesis used to create the energy takes it up at the same rate.
Human/Solar hybrid: Human power and solar power, which run both the Tour De France and the World Solar Challenge, come together to create a vehicle completely free from fueling stations.
Retrofit: Convert existing car designs with lightweighting and efficiency expertise.
Th!nk Car: For unpredictable innovation, there is a unrestricted category.
Meanwhile, The big three detroit automakers say that achieving 35 mpg fleetwide is not technically feasible.
The bill would require automakers to have a fleetwide fuel economy average of 35 miles per gallon by the 2017 model year (instead of 27.5 now). The measure also would mandate onboard fuel economy display by the 2013 model year and require cars to average 31.1 miles per gallon by model year 2009 and light trucks to average 23.6 miles per gallon.
Related articles:
Mileage of current SUVs. Rav-4 is the best at 24mpg city/30mpg highway and seats 7 Besides choosing a more efficient car when you next buy, you can get an electric folding bike so you can drive less. Chinese people are buying three times as many electric bikes as cars
Better ceramics could make cars lighter
Better batteries would make better hybrids
Several ways to make better batteries
Fuel cells look close too
Brian Wang is a Futurist Thought Leader and a popular Science blogger with 1 million readers per month. His blog Nextbigfuture.com is ranked #1 Science News Blog. It covers many disruptive technology and trends including Space, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Medicine, Anti-aging Biotechnology, and Nanotechnology.
Known for identifying cutting edge technologies, he is currently a Co-Founder of a startup and fundraiser for high potential early-stage companies. He is the Head of Research for Allocations for deep technology investments and an Angel Investor at Space Angels.
A frequent speaker at corporations, he has been a TEDx speaker, a Singularity University speaker and guest at numerous interviews for radio and podcasts. He is open to public speaking and advising engagements.