Future of Automobiles

The basic tenets of geometry dictate that the shortest distance between two points on a plane is a straight line. Unfortunately, Euclid and the other theorists of mathematics do not explain exactly how one is to traverse that distance. Ten thousand years ago, the best way for a person to get anywhere was to walk, and the peak of transportation was a bit of hide or plant matter strapped to one's feet. Later, animals were domesticated and used to take us farther in less time. By the time of the Romans, we had already found ways to build vehicles to move more people and cargo than just the back of an animal could. Basic wheeled vehicles pulled by beasts of burden remained the standard mode of transportation for hundreds of years (except for distances across water for which boats were used). During the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, a technological revolution began that changed not just transportation, but every aspect of life. We learned to harness the raw power of chemicals in our own environment to produce locomotion, and distances that had seemed legendary were now only a few days' journey. One could rightly say that automobiles are the feet that move the body of America. This is true, but it may be time for a visit to the podiatrist. In this day and age, conventional automobiles are not effective as means of mass transportation.

The things that we call cars seem to come in almost as many shapes and sizes as the people who drive them. There are traditional sedans, which may be sport, luxury, or compact, as well as trucks, sport utility vehicles (SUVs), station wagons, and vans in great quantity. There are also other similar vehicles such as golf carts, fork lifts, and tanks, but the word 'car' generally refers to the vehicles which average folk drive every day. One basic component ties cars together into a single group: the internal combustion engine. It is a device that takes gasoline and causes it to combust, utilizing the mechanical force produced in a chemical reaction. Through a system of mechanical parts, including gears, cams, and pistons, this energy turns wheels and makes our cars go. Although the internal combustion engine (ICE) was a technological marvel nearly a hundred years ago, it has since become outdated. Because of international relations and the basic limitations of the environment, the oil which produces gasoline is becoming increasingly scarce.