Envisioning the cars of the future starts with the engine

"What do you think future cars will look like?" asked Alexis Mathews, 11, a sixth-grader at Viking Middle School in Gurnee.

Cars of the future can be anything you dream them to be. Will they travel on roads, in air or water? Will they hold one passenger or many? What kind of fuel will be used to power them? Will they be affordable?

There's no doubt that car design is a hot topic. A number of factors could change the way we drive and the type of vehicles we buy. Cars today run on gasoline, a fossil fuel that pollutes the environment, has a limited source and is becoming very expensive. People want to buy cars that run on clean fuel. Clean, alternative fuels are not expensive but the vehicles that run on them carry a higher price tag than gasoline-powered cars. People want affordable cars. Scientists, engineers and manufacturers are in the process of designing cars for the future that meet these needs.

"I think the most important thing when talking about future cars is not what is on the outside, but what is on the inside," said Vic Belonogoff of FutureCars.com. The Web site lists 15 fuel sources that could be used to power cars of the future. "Future cars will no longer rely on the internal combustion engine - oil and gas. They will rely on electricity, solar energy, hydrogen power and compressed air," Belonogoff said.

Prototypes, car models that allow researchers to test out their ideas, could be made to run on any type of fuel, but will consumers want to buy them? The Progressive Automotive XPRIZE announced in March of this year, will award $10 million to the team that can develop a 100 mpg vehicle that people will want to drive. To date, 60 teams have entered the contest. The winner will be announced in 2010.

"The car of the future will be more electric. The trend is towards hybrid electric vehicles, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, and all-electric vehicles," said Professor Ali Emadi, head of the IIT Hybrid and Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicle Research lab.

The lab developed two hybrid electric race car prototypes, one of which took third place in the 2008 Formula Hybrid competition. The lab also sponsors Hybrid Electric Vehicle Technologies, a company that has entered the Automotive XPRIZE competition. HEVT Inc. already has developed a conversion kit that changes a 16 mpg gas-powered Ford 150 truck into a 41 mpg hybrid electric truck. The company hopes to see gas-guzzling large vehicles, like school buses, public transportation buses and large military vehicles, adapt to hybrid electric power.

One place to see cars of the future is the Chicago Auto Show, an annual show where more than 40 vehicle manufacturers exhibit their newest products.

"The Chevy Volt electric car that was announced last week was shown at the Auto Show last year," said Paul Brian, spokesman for the Chicago Auto Show. Brian said car manufacturers use the Chicago Auto Show to try out new ideas on car owners. "They do a lot of research at the show to find out what people want to buy." Next year's Chicago Auto Show will be held Feb. 8-17, 2009, at McCormick Place.

Check these out

The Grayslake Area Public Library District suggests these titles on cars:

• "Electric Dreams: One Unlikely Team Of Kids And The Race To Build The Car Of The Future," by Caroline Kettlewell

• "Alternative Cars," by Jill C. Wheeler

•"Fuel And The Environment," by Denise Walker

Web sites

• Aurora Solar Car at aurorasolarcar.com

• How Stuff Works at auto.howstuffworks.com/hybrid-car.htm