Future Cars Concept

What Does the Future Hold For Car Audio

With technology rapidly improving and new products appearing every month, car audio is improving exponentially. This poses a problem though, with things moving so fast how is it possible to keep up? The trick is to be one step ahead of the game and make sure all future purchases are future proofed.

So what’s in store for the car audiophile? We are starting to see the next stage of technology emerging into the market with the Fusion CA-iP500 and the Sony DSX-S100. Both of these units are classed as Digital Media Receiver’s, meaning that they do not use CD’s. This seems like a major leap that is perhaps a step ahead if itself however with the likes of Sony now producing these units it’s a safe bet that other manufacturers have got similar products in the pipeline. Digital units have the advantage of being able to navigate and utilise iPods and MP3 players, allowing you to carry your whole music collection and listen to it whilst driving. In the next few years my prediction is that all car audio brands will look at going for purely digital stereos.

Bluetooth, already a massive feature in today’s car stereos but expect to see this as a basic feature much like Traffic information. The functionality of Bluetooth is also improving; it is now possible to stream music over Bluetooth directly from your phone or computer. Future advances will probably involve pulling up phone books and more phone controls being integrated with the head unit.

The design and functionality of future stereos will include improved screens, perhaps true LCD, HD even. Faster response times and generally improved user interfaces. Built quality is already on the rise with cheap car stereos being able to keep up with the more expensive units.

Whatever the future holds for car stereo, much like the rest of technology, it will continue to improve at an amazing rate. Advances over the last 5 years have been huge with colour screens and MP3 compatibility becoming major features almost overnight. Looking for the latest features and a little research will enable you to stay ahead of the game and make sure your unit is not yesterday’s news before you have even fitted it.

Hydrogen Powered Cars  The Future of Hybrid Cars

One thing is for certain. Hydrogen powered cars are becoming increasingly popular throughout the world. Some even believe the water powered engine will be the hybrid cars of the future. With many becoming outraged by the current high gas prices. This is forcing many to consider hydrogen technology as an added fuel source top power their cars.

There are a number a fuel saving devices currently being built. To convert ones car over to a hydrogen powered car. These are commonly known as hydrogen fuel cell technology. Even though this technology was first developed by Nicola Tesla in the early 1900′s. The technology has been well suppressed until now. With the constant media coverage and numerous enthusiast looking to save money at the pump. It is becoming clear that hydrogen cars are the way of the future. Helping to loosen our grips on the need for foreign oil.

There are a few major benefits that come with hydrogen powered cars. By installing a simple easy to build device called a hho generator or hydrogen fuel cell one would get an increase in gas mileage, lower emissions, increase cars performance, receive a nice tax break, and best of all help save the environment. The first glimpse of this new technology was first introduced by Honda back in 2005. Although they did produce a hydrogen fueled car but the car was just a prototype and was never really placed out on the market.

Now with gas prices skyrocketing there are more car manufactures producing these hybrid cars. What is not well known however is the fact any one and everyone can turn their current vehicles in to a hybrid vehicle. Weather that vehicle be a car, truck, diesel, motor cycle, or this technology will even work on lawn equipment. The list goes on and on for what a hydrogen generator can be used on. If there is an internal combustion engine involved a hydrogen generator can be placed on it reaping all the same great benefits.

Hydrogen boosters are the number one selling device currently being used to turn peoples every day vehicles in to hybrid cars. A hydrogen booster is capable of producing 1.5 liters of gas per minute. Most hydrogen boosters can be bought in the price range of $100-250. Although it is possible to build one of these boosters at your home using parts available at any local hardware store. Since the hydrogen booster produces hydrogen gas or also known as hho gas. One might wonder how this is done. The process is really quite simple by using electrolysis it is possible to break down water into its elemental parts. As we all know that’s hydrogen and oxygen. This hho gas produced in these hydrogen powered cars helps burn all of the fuel that is inside the chamber instead of wasting almost 40% of the fuel. Which flows right out of the exhaust pipe.

How this all works.

Your cars battery sends power to the two electrodes with in the hydrogen generator. This electricity then separates the hydrogen gas out on the cathode ( negatively charged electrode ) and the oxygen is separated out from the anode ( positively charged electrode ). All this is done using plan water and a 1-3% mixture of electrolyte like potassium hydroxide. Which can be found in many house hold items like baking soda.

For more then a decade now many universities, engineering associates and laboratories have done several test all of which proved that by adding tiny amounts of hydrogen to an internal combustion engine. It will put out fewer emissions, increase performance and increase gas mileage. If this only increased gas mileage by 1-2% it would reduce our yearly consumption of fuel by more the a billion gallons a year. However many are experiencing gains by as much as 116%. Of course this does not mean your vehicle will get that type of increase in gas mileage.

Hydrogen powered cars have been used by many large fleet companies in Japan and parts of California. With the the zero emissions these vehicles are pumping out since its only by product is water vapor. While fossil fueled cars produce many harmful toxins into the air. Since this does also use fossil fuel there will still be some emissions being produced by your vehicle. Although not as much as it would be with out a hydrogen fuel additive. Current fossil fueled cars emit 2.0 billion tons of greenhouse gases every single year. With that number increasing as the population increases. By switching to a hydrogen powered cars we could drastically begin to reduce these emissions.

California is currently leading the race for the infrastructure to hydrogen gas stations. More then 20% of all cars sold in America are bought by Californians. This alone will make a huge impact. Even though the infrastructure isn’t everywhere as of yet does not mean people have to sit back and wait. Hydrogen powered cars are on the horizon, people can begin the transition to hybrid gasoline-hydrogen cars and help rid us of our dependence on fossil fuel engines right now. This hydrogen technology has been used for years in the NASCAR circuit.

It is possible to buy a ready made hydrogen engine kit. Although those kits go for well over 3-400$ at the moment. On the other hand there are many plans available through out the Internet. The plans are currently being sold in the price range of $40-100. By choosing the DIY method a hydrogen booster can be built for less then $50. As difficult as it may sound building a hydrogen booster is relatively easy with the right set of plans. Keep in mind though with out the right set of hydrogen generator plans it can be very dangerous.

The one rule of thumb is to make sure there are no sparks emitting outside of your cell and to make sure your cell is not leaking any gas along its hoses. This does not mean hydrogen boosters are not safe if one ones to get in an accident. The right set of hydrogen gas kit plans show you many safety measures. One of which is installing a in line fuse and a cut of switch under the dash. So that if something where to possible go wrong with the hydrogen cell it is easy to kill the power to the device. No mater how we look at it hydrogen powered cars are the hybrid cars of the future. We all have a chance to start making a change now by installing a hydrogen booster.

The Fuel of the Future cars

In the next few decades the car will under go its biggest transformation for a hundred years. The car as we know it today will no longer exist by 2030 as the world looks to build more environmentally friendly cars. When wondering around car dealerships in 2030 you are likely to be met by a choice of power used to fuel your car.

Many in the industry see electric cars as the future of the automobile. The technology is already readily available and recharging the car can be done simply and cheaply at home. From an environmental standpoint the electric car does not produce any emissions. It has been estimated that electric cars could cut a nations carbon dioxide output dramatically. With the current energy mix the US carbon dioxide emissions could be cut by 30%, while an amazing 40% could be cut from the UK’s emissions.

There are a few draw backs with electric cars however. The first problem is their battery life and the time it takes to recharge. Currently most electric cars have very short battery life and need frequent recharging; however recharging a car can take up to 16 hours meaning long car journeys are almost impossible to complete in their current form. Some environmentalists also state that while the car does not produce any emissions itself the power stations it gains its electricity from do. It is argued that as a result in the increase in electricity supply, and the fossil fuels used to power it, that electric cars could produce more CO2 than highly fuel efficient diesel cars.

Because of the problems surrounding electric cars, many have pointed to Hydrogen cars as the best hope for our future. Hydrogen cars only emit water from their exhaust and hydrogen refuelling is no different from refuelling with petrol with 16 hydrogen pumps already available in Los Angeles. Hydrogen cars also last longer than electric cars between refuelling stops with the Honda FCX Clarity having a range of 280 miles on a single tank of hydrogen. Hydrogen is the most abundant element in the universe so there is little worry of the source ever running out.

While Hydrogen cars seem to solves many of the problems electric cars face it does have many problems of its own. The biggest is hydrogen itself, while the resources of it are vast hydrogen is usually found with other elements and the process of stripping hydrogen away from these elements and then distributing it across the county is very costly and difficult to achieve. The production of the cars themselves is hugely expensive with a number of leading manufacturers delaying plans to develop hydrogen cars because of the costs involved.

While in their current guises neither type of car is ready to replace our petrol cars it is expected that in the near future a solution to their problems can be found and our dependence on fossil fuels and the carbon dioxide they produce can be cut for good creating a greener, brighter future.