Inspirational Vehicles Shaping the Future
Lithium ion batteries have experienced substantial advancement over the past couple decades, and more recently we have witnessed their wide scale acceptance across all industries. Manufacturers in the transportation industry are announcing fleets of electric vehicles that are slated to come onto the market in the next couple years. Â
Battery pack design is enabling sleeker design improvements that are appealing to many customers.
The fruition of lithium ion batteries has not been a seamless process. Infamous memories of the Samsung Galaxy phones and hoverboards come to mind when in 2015 and 2016 airlines outright banned these devices from being brought onto airplanes due to the risk of spontaneously igniting.
It is remarkable to think it has only been five years since those troubles. Design and engineering improvements are continuing, and I believe the 2020s will be a decade to remember. Automobiles, aircraft, hoverboards, and other modes of transportation are on the cusp of revolutionizing the entire industry. Below are my top futuristic modes of transportation that will shape the future.
Automobiles
Elon Musk is arguably one of the greatest thinkers and engineers of our time. His vision for a sustainable world powered by lithium ion batteries is pushing the entire industry to move away from internal combustion engines. He set a vision for a $25,000 electric vehicle within the next few years. Whether it is Tesla or another manufacturer, that dream is closer than ever.
Hoverboard/Skateboard
Commuting short distances on college campuses or simply taking a stroll on a local trail, there are some battery powered designs on the market for thrill-seekers. Batteries fuel the entrepreneurial spirit to craft up some creative designs.
Drone
Drones and VTOL (Vertical Take-off Landing) vehicles are also penetrating the market. Although there are a lot of FAA restrictions and legislation to be determined, engineers are well ahead of the government and making rapid advancement on the technology. Drones have the potential of offering another mode of personal travel and delivering packages.
But it gets even weirder. Daymak announced a light electric vehicle called the Skyrider. This UFO-like looking aircraft was announced in Q4 and is optimistically being planned for 2025 deliveries.
Airplane
There is also a strong push to transition the passenger aircraft industry to solar and/or hydrogen fuel cells. It sounds a bit crazy to think that a potential hydrogen bomb could carry passengers across the world, but the controlled reaction is under extensive development. The Airbus ZEROe is the first hydrogen fuel cell aircraft (with commercial intentions) announced by a major aerospace company.
There are also ambitions to introduce solar into the industry. It is highly unlikely that a passenger plane could rely 100% on solar, but paired with hydrogen it could make for a very efficient aircraft. The Solar Impulse 2 completed a 505 day round-trip flight in 2016 using only the power of the sun.
Ship
The shipping industry contributes ~2% to global carbon dioxide emissions. Liquified natural gas ships are more efficient than traditional gasoline powered ones, but hydrogen powered is the next step. On December 8th, it was announced that Denmark and Norway are teaming up to build the world’s largest hydrogen ferry. It was a huge advancement to move to LNG (liquified natural gas) powered ships, and the move to pure hydrogen will be yet another milestone. A ship of this size moving to 100% hydrogen fuel will be the equivalent of removing 13,000 passenger vehicles from the road. As of January 2018 there were ~53,000 merchant ships in the world. Converting all of these ships to hydrogen would be the equivalent of removing emissions of 689,000,000 passenger vehicles, or approximately 50% of the 1.4 billion passenger vehicles in the world.
Tractor
The farming and agriculture industry also heavily relies on vehicles and equipment for harvesting crop. Monarch has announced an electric tractor with expected shipments in the fall of 2021. At a starting price of $50k it is making the first step in revolutionizing the difficult-to-penetrate agriculture market.
Truck
Finally, 2020 experienced many highs and lows with the truck market. As buzz for the Tesla Cybertruck grew throughout the year, contenders throughout the market came to the forefront. Nikola Motor arrived on the scene in early Q2 with a truck that had a hydrogen fuel cell paired with a Li-ion battery to provide maximum range. Enthusiasts and reporters were optimistic that this technology could be applied to semi-trucks to revolutionize the long-haul trucking industry. Unfortunately, the Company experienced credibility troubles causing them to lose many partnerships which jeopardizes their ability to execute on their claims. Â
Fortunately, it does appear that there are other frontrunners with viable products. Tesla, Cummins, and Volvo are leading the way with electric prototypes that will launch in 2021/2022.   Â
Meanwhile, the pickup truck industry is experiencing the most competition. Tesla, Rivian, Workhorse, and Bollinger are just some of the manufacturers slated to launch trucks in 2021.
The design of all of these modes of transportation are exciting, but it would be pointless if they were not contributing to the global goal of reducing carbon emissions. According to this graphic from 2016, the vehicles used to travel on road, through air, and across waters contribute about 15% to global carbon dioxide emissions. All of these models will significantly contribute to reducing these emissions over the next decade, while having fun at the same time! Batteries are the future, and they will enable modes of transportation that were thought impossible years ago.
Thank you - and have a happy and healthy New Year!