In the United States, private personal transportation has become dominated by the automobile, a platform supported on four wheels and propelled by an internal combustion engine (ICE). Some of the reasons why this combination has emerged as the preferred choice are reviewed. Since urban air quality has become an issue, the ICE has kept pace with progressively more stringent exhaust-emissions regulations. Future emissions standards will encourage the use of alternative fuels and battery-electric propulsion. Looking far into the future, the depletion of fossil-fuel resources and/or definitive evidence that the greenhouse gases are actually changing the goblal would foster a shift toward nuclear and solar energy. The automobile platform is compatible with such a shift. The ICE and the electric motor remain as potential motive sources, although they would face some difficult challenges.
Private vehicles for personal transportation
Privatfahrzeuge für die Personenbeförderung
1992
16 Seiten, 25 Bilder, 2 Tabellen, 26 Quellen
Conference paper
English
Private vehicles for personal transportation
Tema Archive | 1993
|Private Vehicles for Personal Transportation
Online Contents | 1993
|Private vehicles for personal transportation
Automotive engineering | 1993
|Private vehicles for personal transportation
Online Contents | 1993
|