Today's car are smaller, safer, cleaner, and more economical than their predecessors, but the car of the future will be far more pollution-free than those on the road today. Several new types of automobile engines have already been developed that run on alternative sources of power, such as electricity, compressed natural gas, methanol, steam, hydrogen, and propane. Electricity, however, is the only zero emission option presently available.

      Although electric vehicles will not be truly practical until a powerful, compact battery or other dependable source of current is available, transportation experts foresee a new assortment of electric vehicle entering everyday life; shorter-range commuter electric cars, three-wheeled neighborhood cars, electric delivery vans, bikes, and trolleys.

      As automakers work to develop practical electrical vehicles, urban planners and utility engineers are focusing on infrastructure systems to support and make the use of the new cars. Public charging facilities will need to be as common as today's gas stations. Public parking spots on the street or the in commercial lots will need to be equipped with devices that allow drivers to charge their batteries while they shop, dine, or attend a concert. To encourage the use of electric vehicles, the most convenient parking in transportation centers might be reserved for electric cars.

      Planners foresee electric shuttle busses, trains, buses, and neighborhood vehicles all meeting at transit centers that would have facilities for charging and renting. Commutes will be able to rent a variety of electric cars to suit their needs: light trucks, one-person three-wheelers, small cars, or electric/gasoline hybrid cars for longer trips, which will no doubt take place on automated freeways capable of handling five minutes times number of vehicles that can be carried by a freeway today.