Future of Fuel

As we are in the lounge area This is just a general discussion topic for bran storming
Currently we have the following types:

Gas
Diesel
Hybrid
Electric
Plug in hybrid
Fuel cell (Hydrogen)
Solar (I added the solar for completeness, although it seems that scientist will continue having hard time commercializing it in the foreseen future)

Which one do you think you'd be buying 5 years from now?
Which one has more chances to prevail?

I don't see solar as any more then a way to charge larger volumes of batteries - no reason to put panels on a car except maybe for some auxiliary systems (running a fan when the car is parked); IMHO it is easier to add more batteries then try to attach lots of solar cells for poor charging.

Fuel Cell is a great technology but Fuel storage is an issue - Hydrogen gas has to be created and transported, and then stored in the car. Refilling compressed hydrogen is an issue too. All can be done, but they add complexity.

Hybrid requires multiple systems. I thought the Prius and others would have more problems then they do, due to the gas and electric systems. I was wrong. But the added complexity is still there.

Diesel - not sure how it will fare. It used to be thought of as noisy, dirty, slow. That is changed, but fuel cost is 25% higher in USA for diesel and if gasoline efficiency increases, diesel will only be useful for Torque.

I bet on gasoline and electric. The gasoline industry will fight - probably lower cost of fuel as electric takes over. Also, government needs tax revenue, so somehow all the electric cars need to pay for roads. But electric has charging issues - speed. We are all used to filling up in minutes, not 30 minutes. If I want to drive 6 hours, i don't want to be forced to make a 30 minute pit stop.

If the charge speed problem is solved, I see electric replacing Gasoline. But the gasoline infrastructure is so pervasive, and existing gasoline cars so numerous, they won't go anywhere anytime soon.

But in 5 years, new car buyers will likely be buying electric. Maybe not all, but 25% may be.

alphadog00 said:

I
But in 5 years, new car buyers will likely be buying electric. Maybe not all, but 25% may be.

Click to expand...

awesome answer, but why u ignored the PHEV?