Future transport and roadway advances.

2011-02-13T08:38:00.000-08:00

I've read a few articles on the Tobacco Mosaic Virus (TMV) boosting battery power, and I don't think this has been recognised yet for it's full potential. Lets take electric cars as an example; currently their range is around 100 miles. Whilst this would be fine for most journeys, trips across continents would not be possible without recharging. With the development in battery life, the range could be up to 1000 miles- this should cover almost all jouneys. If the batteries were able to be replaced easily, garages could supply a pre-charged battery in exchange for the flat one plus a fee. This is of course some years off, but the prospect is certainly promising.

Alternatively, we could charge our cars whilst we drive; wireless electricity is certainly not a new concept, but neither has it become commercially available. A talk on TED I watched recently demonstrates that wireless charging is possible (I've linked this talk below.) If this was put into practise for electric cars, batteries would only be necessary when driving on roads without this technology.

Another develpoment could be solar roadways, where solar panels are built into roads. Again this is only in early stages of development but shows definite potential for energy saving as fossil fuels run out. Again I've linked a video below showing the development of this technology, though I don't expect the whole road system to be dug up any time soon to implement this.

Something Completely Different

Future transport and roadway advances.