New Automotive Technology Research Key Terms

Keep up with car talk by learning some automotive technology research key terms

As gas prices fluctuate and oil reserves dwindle, car companies have rushed to embrace new technologies to make cars cheaper and more fuel-efficient. There's also been a great deal of research into alternative fuel technologies and components, including hybrid cars, lithium-based batteries and all-electric cars.

Some of these technologies are brand new; others have been around for awhile, but are only now becoming cost-effective and practical enough to consider using on a wide scale basis. Arm yourself with the following new automotive technology research terms and you'll hold your own in any car discussion.

 

Carbon fiber

Carbon fiber, a combination of carbon fibers and epoxy, is much lighter and stronger than steel. It has been used in aerospace applications for some time, but the high cost of the material has kept it out of most applications. Research has led to lower production costs, however, and it's getting to the point where it may soon be widely used in automobile production.
Try: Watch a hands-on carbon fiber demonstration at Google Video.

Hydrogen fuel cells

Hydrogen fuel cells create electricity and the only by-product is water. Although promising, much research is required before hydrogen fuel cells are practical on a large-scale basis.
Try: Learn more about hydrogen fuel cells at the Hydrogen, Fuel Cells & Infrastructure Technologies Program.

Lithium batteries

Lithium batteries, similar to the ones used in laptops and phones, are a promising technology for powering electric cars. Research has greatly increased the capacity of lithium batteries. Most current batteries are lithium ion batteries, but lithium sulphur batteries show promise.
Try: Science Daily discusses lithium sulphur batteries.

All-electric vehicles

All-electric vehicles are powered solely by an electric motor that derives its power from batteries. These cars may use a gas or diesel engine to recharge the car's batteries, but only the electric motor and the batteries power the wheels.
Try: Check out Tesla Motors for a look at an impressive all-electric vehicle.

Hybrid vehicles

Hybrids, like the super-popular Toyota Prius, use both electric and gasoline motors to turn the car's wheels. In the case of the Prius, the electric motor works alone at low speeds and is only joined by the gasoline motor when the car accelerates or moves at higher speeds.
Try: Learn more about Toyota's hybrid technology at Toyota Motor Corporation.

Prototype

A prototype is non-production vehicle designed to test how well a design works and how well it is received by the public.
Try: Get more information about automobile prototypes at Conceptcarz.com.

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