Alternative Fuel Vehicles

Over the past few months I have been thinking about the different types of vehicles that are arriving on the markets, and how it is changing the conventional Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) that uses Gasoline. Just within the past 10 years we have seen the expansive growth of Hybrid Vehicles, including cars like the Toyota Prius, and the Honda Insight. Within the last year we have seen the introduction of all battery electric vehicles, vehicles from TESLA Motors and the Nissan Leaf. We have also seen a cross between Hybrid vehicles and battery vehicles which is a plug in hybrid (PHEV). Additionally we have also seen an push from automakers like Ford, GM, Hyundai and others, to manufacture Hydrogen Vehicles.

While we do see many alternatives to Gasoline powered vehicles, we also see a push for gasoline powered vehicles to continue to remain in the market. Due to increased fuel efficiency in modern day cars we continually see a increased Miles per Gallon (MPG) in new cars. This push for higher MPG has even inspired a Automotive X-prize competition (know for it's Space X-Prize competition).

The Automotive X-Prize is designed to get engineers thinking outside the box in terms of fuel economy. The goal is to develop a "commercially viable" vehicle that will get at least 100 mpg. - AutoBlog.com

The winner of a Race will receive a 10 million dollar prize. As of today there is 7 vehicles left for the final race between all vehicles. Updates about the Progressive Automotive X-Prize can be found from their website: http://www.progressiveautoxprize.org/

In conclusion, even with these increased number of alternative fuel vehicles, we see a continued use of gasoline powered vehicles and a push for improved gasoline fuel efficiency. This advancement will continue to keep alternative fuel vehicles out of the main market share, as they have high barriers to entry as it is. It will be interesting to see what happens. If we don't see automakers offering 100 MPG, you can always do it your self.