While Scout recently reported on hybrid automobiles from the current make and model point of view, this topic in depth explores the history and technology of electric and hybrid cars and considers the options available for car buyers and the future of fuel cell technology. This article from the Detroit News suggests electric vehicles are becoming popular (1). The second website (1) provides an...

The Center for Advanced Vehicular Systems (CAVS) at Mississippi State University researches and develops "manufacturing and design means and methods for producing vehicles of superior quality with advanced features and functions at reduced costs and shorter product development times, exploiting the underlying technologies for broader industrial use." In the Alternative Power link, users can find...

In another embarrassment to President Bush, the Senate voted 70-30 yesterday to end a Republican filibuster and support efforts to impose stricter safety standards on Mexican trucks driving across the United States. Granting Mexican trucking companies access to American roads has been a contentious issue since the 1993 North American Free Trade Agreement. President Bush has stated that he wants to...

The highlight of the SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) Web site, under the Products section, is the listing of a vast array of magazines, books, technical papers, standards, CD-ROMS, professional development tools, and software engineering tools produced by the organization. Thousands of items are available, and though there is a fee to obtain each one, the listings themselves make up a...

The FreedomCAR and Vehicle Technologies Program, under direction of the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, works "to strengthen America's energy security, environmental quality, and economic vitality." The Program is a collaborative effort with industry leaders to develop transportation technologies that reduce the nation's dependence on imported oil and...

From the EPA's National Center for Environmental Assessment, a recent publication release is available online entitled Health Assessment Document for Diesel Engine Exhaust. The over six hundred-page document contains information on the physical and chemical composition of diesel exhaust, its atmospheric transformation, and an extensive look at its health effects.

100 Years after the Ford Model T, what does the future hold for our cars? http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/technology/technology.html?in_article_id=506493&in_page_id=1965 Automotive X Prize http://auto.xprize.org/ Howstuffworks: "How Electric Cars Work" [Macromedia Flash Player] http://auto.howstuffworks.com/electric-car.htm Aptera [Macromedia Flash...

Several new and forthcoming books published by the National Academies Press (NAP) can now be read online through NAP's OpenBook feature, that allows readers to view full text of books (.html). The first listed here, "Effectiveness and Impact of Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) Standards", is an unedited pre-print. It gives the results of a the National Academies Transportation Research...

Edmund Publications, a provider of automobile information, makes this site available. It contains information on 34 major brands of new cars, 27 major brands of new trucks and 38 major brands of used vehicles (back to 1988). Some of the information provided includes standard and optional features, pricing, and safety features. There is also a guide to buying a used car and an auto-loan calculator....

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory operates the Alternative Fuels Data Center, a Web site with vast amounts of information on alternative fuels and the vehicles that use them. A general table of fuel properties gives a quick comparison of gasoline to several alternatives, while sections devoted to eight different fuels go into much greater depth. There are several documents that examine new...