Over the last 100 years, automobiles have become an essential part of everyday life. Cars play a crucial role in public transport systems in many parts of the world; without them, the world’s logistics systems would come to a standstill. For many people, whether they are driving vehicles or watching professionals on a track, automobiles have also become a basic form of entertainment.

However, despite their role in modern society, automobiles also pose a serious danger. Not only are fossil fuels, which are used in most vehicles today, quickly running out, but the by-products of fossil fuel combustion such as carbon dioxide are the main cause of climate change and pollution.

While the governments of many countries have been drawing up policies to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, the global automotive industry has been focusing on developing technologies to replace fossil fuels as the main energy source for automobiles.

Hybrid electric technology Although the technology does not enable vehicles to operate entirely without fossil fuels, hybrid electric technology is the most commonly used eco-friendly automotive technology in use today. An HEV is equipped with two power generators; one is a conventional internal combustion engine that uses common fossil fuels such as diesel and gasoline, and the other is an electric motor.

The latter is used to drive the vehicle at low speeds and to reduce the burden on the conventional engine while accelerating or when starting the engine for the first time.

The electric motor is powered by batteries that are charged by either external power sources or by a built-in electrical generator operated with the energy generated by the internal combustion engine.

Currently available HEVs include the Lexus GS 450h, LS600hL, and HEV version of Honda’s mid-sized sedan, the Accord.

Local efforts at developing HEVs are being led by the country’s largest automaker, Hyundai Motor Co. In 1995, the company’s first HEV FGV-1 was displayed at the first Seoul Motor Show. Since then, Hyundai Motor has developed HEV versions of its compact cars Avante, Click, and Verna. Although none of the vehicles are produced on a commercial scale, 50 hybrid Clicks and 350 hybrid Vernas have been supplied to the Ministry of Environment.

Electric vehicles

Electric vehicles are similar to HEVs, in that they are equipped with electric motors and rechargeable batteries. However, electric vehicles do not use any fossil fuels, and are charged using an external source.

Although electric vehicles are cleaner than HEVs, since they do not have an internal combustion engine, EVs have a much shorter driving range than other vehicles, and tend to have lower top speeds, in contrast to HEVs or conventional vehicles. The eco-friendliness of such vehicles has also been questioned.

For the most part, due to the EVs’ limitations in speed and driving range, they have not been made by the country’s larger automakers.

At present, Leozone Inc. is the country’s only automaker that produces electric vehicles. This company’s lineup includes scooters that can travel up to 60 kilometers on a single charge, and electric sports utility vehicles. The company is also developing an electric supercar that can accelerate from zero to 100 kilometers per hour in 2.9 seconds. To overcome the problem involving the long charging time, the company has developed a high-speed charger that can fully charge a flat battery in 30 minutes.

Hydrogen fuel cell vehicles

Hydrogen fuel cells represent another zero-emissions automotive technology. Fuel cell vehicles are equipped with electric motors that are powered with the electricity generated by reacting oxygen with hydrogen. The only waste produced by a hydrogen fuel cell is water.

Although such characteristics may make hydrogen fuel cells seem like the perfect alternative to internal combustion engines, the technology is not without problems that must be solved before fuel-cell cars can be commercialized.

One problem is that hydrogen is relatively expensive to produce — more so than any of the currently used fossil fuels. Also, the fuel cell itself needs platinum, a rare and expensive metal. The storage of the material represents another problem, as hydrogen is volatile and requires high pressure and specially designed containers to store the material in useable quantities. In addition, for hydrogen cars to become commonplace, large investments in developing the necessary infrastructure such as hydrogen-distribution networks need to be made.

Compressed Air Technology

Although some of the world’s largest automakers have made significant advances in developing eco-friendly automotive technologies, many of which have already been applied to actual vehicles, the research continues and has given birth to some very unlikely vehicles.

One example is the Air Car, which uses compressed air as fuel. This was developed by the French engineer, Guy Negre. The car is powered by a system known as the Compressed Air Technology (C.A.T) which uses compressed air to drive the pistons in a specially designed engine. However improbable the technology may seem, its developers have signed an agreement with the Indian carmaker Tata Motors to begin commercial production of Air Cars next year.

According to Moteur Developpement International, the company responsible for producing Air Cars, the vehicle is available in two forms: one that uses only compressed air, and another that uses both compressed air and conventional fuels, depending on the speed of the vehicle.

The model using only compressed air has a top speed of 50 kilometers per hour and is designed specifically for urban areas. The dual-energy version of the car uses compressed air when traveling at speeds lower than 50 kilometers per hour, and switches automatically to conventional fuels at higher speeds.  [Source: Koreaherald]