Will We Ever See The Hy-Wire Concept Car In Our Lifetime?

Project Background & Objectives

My report focuses on the General Motors Hy-wire concept ca and whether or not it is something that will ever become readily available for public purchase. The car itself actually proves that the technology is there to be able to have cars and other vehicles that produce literally no harmful emissions; it’s whether or not this technology can be produced cheap enough so that it can be mass produced onto our everyday cars.

The primary objectives of the project are mainly to find whether this new car and its amazing technology will actually be readily available within my lifetime, if not my lifetime, then maybe our children’s lifetime. Because it’s our generation who are ruining the atmosphere and highly contributing to the global warming that is currently affecting our climate every single day.

It is clear that the technology is there and that companies such as General Motors, Jaguar, BMW and Mercedes are doing there bit to reduce emissions with there new hydrogen fuel cell technology in there engines. Although this reduces emissions it does not do what the Hy-wire car does and that’s completely remove all emissions form the engine except water vapor. So I am trying to see if this is feasible technology we will see sooner rather then later.

The Sustainable Technology Issue

The sustainable technology issue is to reduce the carbon emissions released from the engines that all our vehicles produce every time we turn our engines on. We know this technology is out there. So why does it take so long for this to come into practice?

I believe this technology that they have been producing and developing since the turn of the century is something that should have been here and be in use now! If at the current rate we do nothing about the carbon emissions that is being produced then it’s not going to be us who suffer, maybe not our children but our grandchildren who will be the ones who suffer. I think this may be why people of our generation aren’t hugely bothered about the whole issue. In the 25 people I asked about global warming and whether we are all doing enough to reduce emissions. At least two thirds of them weren’t really bothered by the issue or didn’t think it was something to worry about. If this is the attitude of people of my generation then this does not really bode well for the future, does it?

Technical Alternatives & Consequences

Alternatives are always put forward with anything like this. I had to try and find out the alternatives tot his total emission free car. Although my self I feel that this is something that we should be aiming for until we have achieved it.

At this present moment in time we have just been introduced to the hydrogen fuel cell technology that is a new type of engine that reduces the carbon emissions that an engine produces but not totally. But there is one issue with this that many people, I don’t think, have not thought about. I believe that people in my generation have now seen something done to reduce emissions and now they might start to think that the work is done for a few years, but it’s not even half done. This technology is out there but only to the few that have paid for it, and it is not a cheap option. Until this alternative is being used by more then a handful that are currently using it, it wont even begin to make a dent in the emissions that we are producing. One or two cars on the road like there are at the moment will only reduce emissions such a small amount it’s impossible to even measure the amounts. So although this is an alternative for the moment I am worried that this “perfect” car will never come into affect because the manufacturers have found this alternative for the moment.

Political & Financial Issues

the financial issues for this project are huge, because this is new technology its costs a lot to develop and get into production. I feel that if or when this technology, that will completely remove the emissions from our cars, comes available for public consumption then it’s not something that can be changed over night. On average people change there car once every two to three years, meaning that when this technology comes in its probably going to take another 5 to 10 years before everybody has this technology is their car. This also depends on whether or not everybody could afford it, which I am sure people just would not be able to do. So if we are going to reduce these emissions like everybody is saying we must then how is this going to be a financially feasible project for everyone. Is it going to be down to the government to make it a necessity for everyone to have one of these cars and if this is true, how would the government even begin to make that happen. I just am not entirely sure it’s ever going to be something we will see however good this technology is.

Sustainable Development issues from a National or Global perspective.

This is not just a national issue this is very much a global issue. Everyone in the first world countries, also known as the developed countries have an issue with global warming. It’s a problem world wide and everyone within these countries need to their bit. All of the big and powerful countries meet yearly to discuss such issues as global warming known as the G8 summit. Although this is a step towards making the world a more cooperative place, does anything actually ever get done? They can make all these rules and regulations but unless you are actually reducing emissions then to be honest nothing is really getting done to prevent anything.

Conclusion

I have looked at all the alternatives to this new completely emission free car, but I have been unconvinced that there is anything concrete out there that will actually impact the world in any way to reduce carbon emissions. The new hydrogen fuel celled cars is a step in the right direction, however it’s not something that will ever impact enough unless more of us invest in these cars. I believe that the big wall that is stopping or postponing this amazing machine is, as always, money. I just need to be assured that something positive is being done to make steps forward to getting this amazing machine into production.