Alternative Propulsion Systems for Automobiles, II

The global demand for Auto-Mobility will relevantly increase independently of economic situation and in spite of stringency of fossil sources of energy as well as drastic limitation of pollutant emissions. Thereby power and torque will stay essential criteria of acceptance. A universally applicable future propulsion system is as improbable as a universally applicable automobile instead of the variety including compact and luxury cars. In this book promising and potential propulsion configurations will be discussed from the point of view of effective energy management. Important assessment criteria are power density, torque progression, characteristic of acceleration, specific energy consumption, emissions of chemical materials and mixtures, but also availability, environmental impact and storage ability of the allocated sources of energy as well as technical complexity, costs, safety, infrastructure and service.