Dear Click and Clack
What happens if the Federal Government passes a law that says on Jan 1, 2012 all new federal vehicle purchases will use an electric power train, such as the Chevy Volt, and use alternate power plants to only charge the batteries. Further, motor mounts for all vehicles will be standard so any source of motor, be it gas, diesel, ethanol, methane or even hydrogen fuel cell systems, can be retroactively mounted. Would this not supply the demand to begin breaking away from the present situation. This would allow evolutionary technology development to resolve the problem. It would also open the door for other companies to introduce better systems and allow better after market engines to be retrofit. If bold steps are not taken, I fear that 20 years from now we will still be using gasoline and arguing which is the best alternative.
The Government Will Ride In And Save Us All! This Question Is Not Worthy Of An Intelligent Response, Sorry!
I think the future car will all have the same subsystems that will be modular. These subsystems will most likely be all outsourced parts. The subsystems may consist of the following.
Generator pack (small engine with electric generator)
Battery pack
Charging system for plug in charging
Inverter drive
Electric motor (power transmission)that will be part of the wheel hub
Control modual
A common wire harness
At the end of the day the manufacturing cost may be not much more then a conventional car. Because assembly may be easier if its mostly bolt on and plug in assembly.