Future vehicles will be driven by electricity, but not as you think [Point of View]

The debate on what will be the car of the future has been ongoing for many years now and only seems to intensify. Throughout the years, there have been many views, some would say hypes, on what would be the most likely candidate technology enabling sustainable transportation. The early 1990s saw the end of the large-scale fleet trials of methanol-fueled vehicles, followed by the introduction of electric vehicles (EVs) some years later. The new millennium started off with high hopes for the hydrogen fuel cell vehicle (FCV). Homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI) engines were going to save the day a few years later, combining the best features of the gasoline and diesel engine cycles. In recent years, the pace seems to have picked up: around 2007, biofuels were in the picture (mainly ethanol); in 2009, EVs again came on stage, this time joined by plug-in hybrids and range extended EVs. Most recently, with increased shale gas development, natural gas vehicles (NGVs) have been on the rise.