Vehicles of the Future

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Vehicles of the Future

Over time, the technology of our vehicles has changed dramatically. Automobiles of the future will make use of future electronic technologies and propulsion systems. The first self-propelled car was created in 1769 and was powered by steam. (History of the Automobile) It was used to haul artillery at a max speed of 2.5mph and needed to stop multiples times per mile to build up steam. While 2.5mph is only a comfortable walking speed, the technology was extremely successful for railroad cars, which easily accompanied the large engine. In the early 1900s the only people that could afford cars were the very wealthy, and while a new electronically propelled car was being sold to replace steam technology it wasn’t very popular. When Henry Ford in 1913 started mass-producing internal combustion power in his Model T, the price came down and the middle class could afford personal transportation. Now in present day we have been relying on gasoline power for about 90 years and we are running out of fossil fuels. According to the General Motors Alternative Fuels homepage, GM is now selling Bi-fuel vehicles that run on a mix of ethanol and gasoline, which will effectively reduce emissions and fossil fuel consumption. Authors and artists depict the future of technology by creating vehicles that appear to defy physics. Both Snow Crash and Minority Report portray potential technological developments within the scope of the authors’ imagination.

The film Minority Report takes place in Washington DC in the future year of 2054. The first time we see the infrastructure of Washington, it is very apparent that some sort of alternative propulsion system is in use. The article ‘Lexus concepts in Minorit...

... middle of paper ...

...ntam, 1992.

“Car Design News.” Lexus concept vehicles star in Spielberg’s ‘Minority Report’. 2002 Wed, Jul 24, 2002 < http://www.cardesignnews.com/news/2002/020724minority-report/>

“Mary Bellis.” The History of the Automobile. 2004 http://inventors.about.com/library/weekly/aacarssteama.htm

“General Motors Coporation” GM – Alternative Fuels Home Page 2004 http://www.gm.com/automotive/innovations/altfuel/

“Keenan Singleton” Hybrid Cars Are Gaining in Popularity Mar 14, 2004 http://soc.hfac.uh.edu/artman/publish/article_105.shtml

”hybridcars.com” 2004 http://www.hybridcars.com/

“Kevin Bonsor” How Maglev trains work 2004 http://travel.howstuffworks.com/maglev-train3.htm

Old Dominion University Maglev project 2002 http://www.odu.edu/af/maglev/index.html

“Bradon Morgan” Internet: The New Necessity 2002 http://www.youngmoney.com/technology/internet/021210_02

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