Introduction

An automobile, motor car or car is a wheeled motor vehicle automobile, used for transporting passengers, which also carries its own engine or motor. However, the term automobile is far from precise, because there are many types of vehicles that do similar tasks. There are approximately 600 million passenger cars worldwide (roughly one car per eleven people).

History of Automobiles
Ferdinand Verbiest - First Steam powered vehicle in 1672 Leonty Shamshurenkov - Human Pedalled 4 wheel carriage in 1752 Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot - First self-propelled mechanical Nicolasselfvehicle Franois Isaac de Rivaz First IC Engine in 1806 Karl Benz - First internal-combustion flat engine internal-

BMW Gina (Concept)

Automobile Technology
Steam

Hydrogen Fuel

Solar

Steam Powered Automobiles

A steam car is a light car (automobile) powered by a steam engine. The light car developed contemporaneously with both steam and petrol engines, as both engineering and road building matured. By 1920 the petrol engine had progressed to such a point that the steam car was an anachronism.

Roadster

Vagg Steam Car

 A steam engine is an External Combustion Engine (ECE). The fuel is combusted away from the engine. Efficiency was less than IC Engine vehicles. A significant benefit of the ECE is that the fuel burner, nitrogen oxides and unburned carbon in the exhaust, thus avoiding pollution.

Stanley 735

Stanley Steam

Hydrogen Fuel Powered Automobiles

A hydrogen vehicle is an alternative fuel vehicle that uses hydrogen as its onboard fuel for motive power. Conversion of chemical energy to mechanical Widespread use of hydrogen for fueling transportation is a key element of a proposed hydrogen economy.

Honda FCX Concept The FCX concept is Honda's latest take on fuel cells. Although its ultra-cab-forward body looks dramatically long, low, and wide, at 186 inches (15.5 feet) in overall length, the FCX is actually shorter than the Acura RL. It features a compact, Honda-developed fuelcell stack in the middle of the car with two hydrogen tanks in the rear. The stack is actually much smaller than is now technologically feasible, but Honda says that it shows "our dream."

GM Sequel Hydrogen Car General Motors CEO Rick Wagoner says this hydrogen fuel-cell sport/ute is a sequel to the automobile industry's first 100 years. With the concept, GM says it has broken the 300-mile range barrier between fill-ups, all in a five-seat all-wheel-drive ute that goes 0 to 60 mph in about nine seconds. GM says the Sequel means the company is on target to offer a production fuel-cell car by 2010.

GM HyWire Hydrogen Car Larry Burns, GM's vice president of research and development and planning, said, "We are driving to have compelling and affordable fuel cell vehicles on the road by the end of the decade. With Hy-wire, we have taken the technology as it exists today and packaged it into an innovative drivable vehicle comparable in size and weight to today's luxury automobiles.

 Hydrogen fuel does not occur naturally on Earth and thus is not an energy source, but is an energy carrier. It is most frequently made from methane or other fossil fuels. Hydrogen fuel can provide much more energy, enough to power an automobile. It can also be converted from the conventional energy sources. On combustion, it does not produce much pollution as any fossil fuel does.

GM Equniox Hydrogen Car GM claims the Equinox FCV is the most capable vehicle of its kind. The four-seat crossover is designed to last for 50,000 miles, more than any rival FCV to date, and be useable in sub-zero temperatures, a long-standing problem for fuel cell propulsion systems. The fuel cell stack in the Equinox is GM's own design and will be built at the company's advanced technology center in Honeoye Falls, N.Y., while the vehicle itself will be produced at GM's Oshawa,Ontario plant.

Toyota FCHV Hydrogen Car Built on the Highlander model, the FCHV has comfortable seating for four, plus cargo storage in back. Two hydrogen tanks sit just in front of the rear wheels, with two more behind. Toyota includes hydrogen and collision sensors around the vehicle that triggers the tank valves to close if either a leak or an accident is detected. Toyota calls the FCHV a hybrid vehicle because it uses a heavily modified version of the Synergy system also found in its line of gas-electric cars. In the FCHV, Toyota replaces the gas engine with a fuel cell stack and the gas tank with hydrogen storage tanks. The system retains the central storage battery, the electric drive motor, the power control unit, and the regenerative braking of the Synergy system.

 This technology is being upgraded for better efficiency. Scientists, companies, etc. across the world are trying their best to extract more & more power from Hydrogen It can be used as an alternative source for powering / fueling automobiles. There are some drawbacks too, like high tankage weight, pumping the fuel, etc.

Solar Powered Automobiles

A solar vehicle is an electric vehicle powered by solar energy. Solar energy is converted using Solar Panels. They are usually attached to the top of the automobile. Solar Panels consists of Photovoltaic (PV). Solar vehicles are not practical day-to-day transportation day-todevices at present.

Antro Solo

Solar Powered Cars

Limitations and Challenges

Solar Panels should always be exposed to sunlight. Cost should be reduced. Size should be made smaller. Lifetime of PV Cells are limited. Efficiency should be increased.

Future Automobile Scope

Automobile propulsion technology under development include gasoline/electric and plug-in hybrids, battery electric vehicles, plughydrogen cars, biofuels, and various alternative fuels. Research into future alternative forms of power include the development of fuel cells, Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition (HCCI), stirling engines, and even using the stored energy of compressed air or liquid nitrogen.