Air-powered cars, battery-operated cars, flying cars and cars that run on biogas - these are all cars of the future.

Cars have definitely come a long way since the first automobiles of the 1700s. The concept of cars began as a dream - to have a “horseless carriage” that runs on its own power source at a speed faster than horse power.

The dreams of Karl Benz and Henry Ford have definitely come a long way since the steam-powered vehicles of yesteryears.

Today, cars come in all shapes in sizes and are outfitted with all the latest gizmos and gadgets – everything including the kitchen sink.

In many ways, the cars of the future are here today. A quick peek at the latest auto shows will reveal a glimpse into the latest automobiles that could be ruling our highways in the near future. The future trends are not a surprise and in fact have slowly been integrated into some of today’s high-end cars. For sure, the cars of the future will not only be enhanced with the coolest features for navigation, communication and entertainment, but will be made safer, more energy-efficient and less polluting.

Hybrid cars

One trend that we see – and hope that is here to stay – is that cars are making the transition from major pollutant to environment hero. Today’s breed of hybrid cars will be made better, as they combine fuel efficiency and lower emissions with an overall improved performance. Hydrogen cars are in the early stages of development and will eventually be harnessed to run on water and sustainable energy resources.

With rising gas and oil prices, the development of other alternative fuels is welcome news. Other sources of energy being tapped are alcohol fuel, compressed air, water and even garbage! The latest breed of cars run on alternative fuel that increase energy savings and make them more eco-friendly. From the affordable to the high-end, car manufacturers such as Volkwagen, Toyota and Lexus are creating their own line of green cars that won’t harm the environment.

Okay, now lets fast forward to 2050, what could be the cars of the future be like?

Could we be zipping around on air in an automobile-cum-airplane a la the Jetsons? Or hover above the ground and zoom off into the sky?

If you haven’t noticed, most of the gadgets that children of the 1980s watched in the morning cartoons or read in comic and sci-fi books are now here. Flat screen TVs, a personal communication device and even your very own nano-sized jukebox are now a normal part of life. Plasma screens and iPods, cell phones and laptops – these technologies were inconceivable just a mere two decades ago. But one thing is missing – what about my flying car?

Also known as a roadable aircraft, a flying car can travel on roads as well as fly on air.

But fret not, at the rate that technological advances are going, zipping in a VTOL (vertical take-off and landing) flying car will not be far away.

Most definitely, you are not going to find a vertical-landing, skybrake-equipped, turbofan-powered flying car at your nearest dealer. The children of the 21^st century still have to wait quite a while before blasting off into the night sky with their very own flying car. But for certain, it won’t take long for the cars of the future to make the leap from the pages of science fiction into the real world.

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This entry was posted on Friday, August 15th, 2008 at 11:44 am and is filed under Articles, FutureTechnology. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.