Documentary Description
With rising temperatures and rising gas prices, cars need to
become greener fast. And superficially, the large car manufacturers
seem to work hard to improve the fuel efficiency of their products. But
are they really? The technology to make cars much more fuel efficient
already exists for decades, but it never makes it to the showroom. Why
do we have to wait so long for fuel efficient vehicles?
The Race for the Car of the Future
According to Vijay Vaitheeswaran, reporter for The Economist and
author of Zoom, the global race for the fuel of the future, the large
manufacturers lack the power of real innovation. A lot of money is
spend of development of new models, but very little is spend on real
research on new fuels and new ways to propel the car of the future.
Meanwhile, the large car manufacturers are lobbying hard to block
regulation on fuel efficiency.
But innovation is happening in the car industry. Several small
companies are working hard on cars that are much more fuel efficient,
or that work on other fuels than gas. Some of those compete in the
X-prize, a new initiative which will result in a race for the most fuel
efficient car next year. Competitors include electric cars, hybrid cars
and even a car that runs on compressed air. All of these competitors
create cars that will be ready for production soon, and that will
create a real threat to the large manufacturers.
Companies like Tesla Motors, where Silicon Valley entrepeneurs who made
large fortunes with innovative internet companies, are stepping up to
the challenge. Why are they changing their focus from the internet to
the productionof cars? And do they have what it takes to compete with
Volkswagen, GM or Ford? Their first production car, the all electric
Tesla Roadster, is received well by both analysts and consumers.
The technology is there and the consumers are looking for more fuel
efficiency. Why then, does it take so long before we can buy these cars
and drive around cheap and environmentally friendly?
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