Newswise — A four-seat, V-6 roadster with light-emitting diode headlights and an adjustable suspension, plus a hybrid-electric sport utility vehicle that uses separate electric motors to spin its front and rear tires top the annual list of advanced-tech cars compiled by the editors of IEEE Spectrum magazine.
Toyota's acclaimed, and redesigned, Prius hybrid car also made the list for the second year in a row. Although Toyota's Prius has been available for six years, and well over 100 000 of them are on roads from Tokyo to Tucson, "2004 will go down as the year when hybrids came into their own as a full-fledged automotive force," author John Voelcker notes in the article. "Manufacturers now ignore them only at their peril."
The V-6 roadster is the HCD-8 from Hyundai. It not only lights its way forward with LEDs, the concept car also makes exclusive use of LEDs for both interior and exterior lighting--including turn signals, brake lights, and fog lights. The hybrid SUV is the RX 400H from Lexus, which uses a 50-kW motor to drive the rear wheels, and is the first hybrid car to use an electric motor alone to power the rear wheels for all-wheel drive. The SUV has the kind of power associated with a V-8 engine, but will travel an impressive 30 miles on a gallon of fuel. The big Lexus is one of two hybrid SUVs on the list. The other is Ford's eagerly anticipated Escape hybrid, which will be the first hybrid produced in North America.
Meanwhile, every automaker's R&D division is experimenting with hydrogen and fuel-cell technologies, though production passenger vehicles are at least a decade away. Ford and DaimlerChrysler are now testing the first fruits of their joint investment in fuel-cell pioneer Ballard Power Systems Inc. Ford is about to put a fleet of hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles into use in Vancouver, B.C., Canada, while London took delivery of three fuel-cell-powered Mercedes-Benz Citaro buses and Perth, Australia, will follow suit.
Other advances highlighted in the article include active steering, roll stability, and 42-volt electrical systems.
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