ABSTRACT
Despite or because of its decades-long success, the classic automobile is not a model for the future. At this moment, close to one billion cars are being driven, parked or are caught in traffic jams around the globe. If its proliferation continues with a dynamic similar to that of recent decades, a fleet of vehicles numbering over two billion will have to be reckoned with in 2030. Given an equally continuing urbanization, there will not be enough space for so many cars in congested population centres. In addition to this comes the increasing consumption of fuel and emission of pollutants that would be associated with a doubling of the worldwide fleet of vehicles. The gains in efficiency in conventional drive technology that can be expected, as well as the increasing percentage of biofuels, will not be sufficient to compensate for such growth. Consequently, the limits of the all-purpose combustion engine vehicle are foreseeable (Sperling and Gordon, 2009; Urry and Dennis, 2009; Nieuwenhuis and Wells, 2008).
