Car of the Future

Student Handout

Team 3: Vehicle Engineering Web Resources

Your task is to do research to find out:

• how gasoline cars can be made more efficient through better engine performance or more lightweight bodies
• the environmental impacts of gasoline combustion
• the advantages and disadvantages of using more efficient gasoline-powered vehicles
• the major challenges facing making gasoline-powered vehicles more efficient

How Car Engines Work
Source: HowStuffWorks
Explains how car engines work.

Engine Technologies
Source: U.S. Department of Energy and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Lists several ways current engine performance can be improved.

The Incredible Shrinking Engine
Source: Technology Review
Profiles efforts by scientists at the MIT Sloan Automotive Laboratory to increase engine-fuel efficiency.

Carbon-Fiber Composites for Cars
Source: Oak Ridge National Laboratories
Details the benefits of carbon-fiber composites for cars and explains why carbon fiber is expensive to produce.

How Long Until We Get One? A Short History of the Ultralight RMI Hypercar
Source: AutoblogGreen
Takes a look at the development, advantages, and disadvantages of the carbon-fiber ultralight vehicle concept called the Hypercar.