Sunday, May 1, 2011

Cars of the Future



A team at the National Institute of Natural Sciences in Okazaki, Japan is working on a way to use a laser to replace the spark plug in motorized vehicles with internal combustion engines.

If successful, we may be driving with lasers in our cars rather than spark plugs and, in the process, may better fuel efficiency.

Spark plugs, which are electrical devices located in the cylinder head of some internal combustion engines, waste a bit of gasoline with each cycle of the cylinders as it ignites compressed fuels, such as gasoline.

However, lasers will eliminate that waste, giving us better miles per gallon (liter) with our cars.

The biggest hurdle with this new technology is placing a powerful laser into a very small volume and making sure it doesn’t impact the rest of the engine.

Full article: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-13160950

Technology is, as usual, on the move. Would you drive a more environmentally-friendly car if it cost you more money? Do you? What are some good ideas for cars of the future?

14 comments:

Mile High Film said...

unreal! I want it now!

Anonymous said...

Saving the gas used in spark plugs is a great idea, let's see how long these lasers will take to reach the market.

As for future cars, seems there is a tendency for smaller and more efficient cars like the Smart.

kxxthanxx said...

yeah but when will they fly!?

Xiism said...

Sweet car with lasers, can't go wrong

Anonymous said...

that is one sleek looking motor vehicle.

The Suit said...

I love technology. I can understand why people don't drive hybrids and such though. It's far too much money to invest in for a lot of people. Definitely interesting though.

Lealeepo said...

I'am convinced that the most important thing is going to be the energy efficiency of a car. The less the car pollutes the nature the better. Design won't play a big part in future.

Lunarchy said...

We've been using the same technology for so long, I hope things do start to change! +follow

Pony said...

I can't wait to see how much cars change in the next 10 years.

Eknan said...

Once we start going green, even in the simplest ways, technology will inevitably improve. The lack of stress on technology right now explains why we're not excelling into the future. We have plenty of reasons to improve technology, just no one is taking initiative.

Ponderer said...

This was a really interesting read! I would rather save money personally.

Water cars = the best for the future in my opinion.

PrettyCoolGuy said...

Flux Capacitors.

Eknan said...

New post title: The Rise of the DeLoreans!

Nom de Plume said...

EVERYTHING is better with lasers!!!