The Hyperloop project of the creator of PayPal and Tesla Motors Elon Musk is turning from a futuristic concept into a very promising business... It involves the creation of trains that can travel faster than most modern aircraft. Today it became known that Oerlikon Leybold Vacuum, owned by Viktor Vekselberg, became Musk's partner in this business. Interest in the project has already been shown in the United Arab Emirates and in China. Secret has selected several more projects that can become the transport of the future and bring in billions.

Hyperloop vacuum trains

In August 2013, Elon Musk presented the concept of an ultra-fast transport of the future - vacuum train and Hyperloop line. Inside a steel pipe on air cushions transport capsules will move, each accommodating up to 28 people. The speed roughly corresponds to the speed of sound in air - 1200 km / h.

The pipe will be supported by columns, and electricity will be provided by solar panels installed across the entire area of \u200b\u200bthe airway. Musk says it requires 21 megawatts to operate, and the panels can generate 57 megawatts on a sunny day. Thus, if capsules are sent from the station every half a minute, 7.4 million people a year can get from San Francisco to Los Angeles (600 km) in less than half an hour. According to Musk's calculations, the project will pay off in 20 years, provided that a one-way ticket costs no more than $ 20.

Hyperloop is an alternative to the high-speed rail project that the US authorities are building between San Francisco and Los Angeles. It is planned to spend about $ 70 billion on the project. Musk is sure that his concept requires only $ 7.5 billion. True, he admitted that he is not yet ready to take on Hyperloop - all his time is taken by SpaceX and Tesla. Musk hopes that someone else will undertake the project, and he, in turn, promises all kinds of support, including financial.

Bus system 3D Express Coach

In 2010, the Chinese company Shenzhen Huashi Future Parking Equipment presented the 3D Express Coach bus project. Although it looks a little like a traditional bus: as conceived by the developers, it should move parallel to the movement of public transport and above it. To do this, the roads need to be equipped with something like a monorail on the sides. The width of the bus is designed to cover two car lanes.

Passenger seats are located on the second level; special platforms must be built for their embarkation and disembarkation. In case of emergency, they can leave the bus using an inflatable gangway. 3D Express Coach is designed for 1,200 - 1,400 people - according to the creators, it can replace about 40 ordinary city buses, and its appearance will reduce the number of traffic jams by 30%.

The bus can use the energy of solar panels installed on its roof to move. In this case, fuel savings would amount to 860 tons per year, and the volume of harmful emissions would be reduced by 2 640 tons per year.

The cost of building an experimental road with a length of 40 km was estimated at $ 73 million.

The project was supposed to begin in 2010 in Beijing, but the local authorities later abandoned this idea. The authorities of Shijiazhuang City District and Wuhu City have shown interest in the two-level transport. At what stage the projects are now is unknown. Also in 2013, the authorities of the Brazilian city of Manaus signed an agreement with the developers of the bus to build such a road system.

E-Volo multicopters

In 2011, three German engineers developed a prototype of the first 16-rotor manned multicopter. The total weight of the structure is 80 kg. Basically, a multicopter is two crossed 5-meter aluminum beams to which the pilot's seat is attached. The chair rests on a large orthopedic ball - it should soften the landing. The aircraft is controlled by one joystick.

The main advantages of the E-Volo are safety and affordable price... The aircraft will be able to stay in the air even if several propellers fail. If they all refuse, the parachute system will work, which will take the pilot and the device to the ground. According to the creators, the cost of a multicopter will be determined by the size and carrying capacity, but the initial price for the simplest configuration is $ 1,000. While the prototype can be in the air for no more than 20 minutes, because the E-Volo is powered by electricity, but the creators promise to increase the flight time one hour. Speed \u200b\u200b- up to 60 km / h.

In 2013, E-Volo engineers decided to make a full-fledged helicopter with 18 propellers based on the multicopter, its test tests were successful. Now E-Volo is trying to start mass production of multicopters.

Travolators from NBBJ

A few days ago, the architectural firm NBBJ presented the concept of unloading the ring line of the London Underground. It is based on a network of travelators moving at different speeds of stepless paths.

NBBJ proposes to arrange three travelators in a row in metro tunnels. One of them will move at a speed of 44 km / h, the middle one - a little slower, and another one - at the speed of a human step, so that it is convenient for passengers to enter it from platforms. According to the developers, this is a "healthy and enjoyable" alternative to the metro.

At the same time, passengers can ride on travolators while standing or walk along them, thereby increasing the speed of their movement.

The amount required to implement the project and the reaction of the London authorities are still unknown.

Suborbital spacecraft Space Ship Two

Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic is set to begin testing a second suborbital tourist spacecraft, Space Ship Two, this year.

Sci-fi movie ideas are already being implemented in laboratories and test sites, and there are several years left before we forget about traffic jams.

We'll be driving electric cars

When gasoline prices are such that it is better not even to look at the price tag, you have to look for an alternative. Cars on gas, hydrogen and electricity appear on the roads. Electricity is the most promising fuel and can actually replace gasoline. Tesla cars became the first commercially successful electric vehicles, and soon analogues from Nissan, BMW, Renault, Toyota, KIA and other manufacturers appeared on the market. Every year, electric vehicles are becoming more economical, safer, and most importantly, more affordable. Experts that by 2022 they will be cheaper than traditional counterparts. This means that in the near future we will switch to economical and environmentally friendly cars.

Electric vehicle sales growth forecast

All cars will be self-driving

Car accidents are one of the main problems in modern cities. Every year in Ukraine in an accident more than a million people. Self-driving cars are being developed to reduce the number of car crash victims and make the roads safer. Industry leader Google has been testing its self-driving cars for several years, adding new features and modifying the body itself. According to , the introduction of self-driving cars will reduce the number of victims on the road. In the United States alone, this will help save the lives of about 21,000 people every year.

Public transport will appear, which will ride over traffic jams

The problems of ground public transport are of concern to both residents and officials. In Kiev, he was even given his own lane, but all the same at rush hour all minibuses and trolleybuses are in traffic jams. Recently in China The Transit Elevated Bus (TEB) is a prototype bus of the future that drives over cars. It does not interfere with the movement of cars - they can pass under it, as in a tunnel, while passengers will be in the cab from above. Developers believe TEB will relieve urban traffic and reduce air pollution by running on electricity or solar energy.

Intercity transport will become even faster and cheaper

The development of high-speed intercity transport has been going on for many years. Some time ago, magnetic levitation trains were promising, but their production was stopped due to the high cost. The technology is being developed now - trains that will run in special pipes with reduced pressure... Engines will be built into these pipes, which will accelerate it. Thanks to this design, the maximum train speed will be 1200 kilometers per hour. If now the road from Kiev to Lviv on the Intercity takes five hours, then on Hyperloop you will cover the same distance in half an hour. According to the developers, a ticket for such a trip will cost about $ 20 - 500 hryvnia at the current exchange rate.

Flying cars will become a reality

In almost every science fiction film, characters travel in flying cars. We see this only in the movies, but we cannot imagine that in the future we will also fly on such aircraft. Work is already underway on a similar type of transport. Recently about startups Zee.Aero andKitty hawk who are engaged in the creation of a flying car. Zee.Aero is developing a compact, electrically powered aircraft that can take off and land vertically. Kitty Hawk is working on a ship that looks like a large quadcopter.

Drawing from the Zee.Aero patent

The transport system will change when humanity begins to trust modern technologies... Instead of buying new jeepdiesel, it is better to purchase an electric car. Even if they are still imperfect, they are improving every day, and even becoming cheaper. This is paka what tesla electric cars expensive, in 5 years any motorist will be able to afford them.

What do you gentlemen think, and how many more years will be sold in developed countries of the world and Europe motor vehicles? Do you think that in the next 100 years this does not threaten the countries and, in principle, is impossible, and in the next 30-50 years oil will still be the main fuel on the planet? You friends are wrong. In fact, we are almost already on the verge of the incredible future that awaits us soon. In fact, the era of gasoline and diesel vehicles is coming to an end and coming to an end. And the thing is that today the world has united, it is fighting to improve the ecology of our planet, and therefore we will soon face the inevitable disappearance of the vehicles that run on traditional and familiar energy sources.

So it is expected that in the next 10-15 years, many European countries will introduce a complete ban on the sale of vehicles that will be equipped with gasoline and diesel engines. Even the United States plans in 20 - 30 years to completely and in fact switch to cars that will run on alternative energy sources.

So dear citizens, there is a high probability that the vehicles we are used to with engines internal combustion began a gradual path towards their disappearance. Do you think or think that, as always, this will affect our country in the last turn? You are wrong and mistaken gentlemen.

Already today, at this stage, our Government is preparing the ground for the development of cars in the country that will and should not work.

Fortunately for fans of traditional cars, the era of gasoline and diesel engines has not yet passed. So dear motorists, let's analyze together with us what kind of cars we will drive, let's say in 20-30 years.

In fact, predicting the future is not entirely rewarding. Especially it concerns high tech... But nevertheless, we think it's possible to make our forecast for the development of the auto industry. Indeed, in order to find out which vehicles will become the main sources of movement in the next 20 years, it is necessary to recall the history of the entire auto industry as a whole, and then assess the chances of all the technologies that have been invented by mankind over the past hundred years.

After all, you must agree with us, if the world begins to prohibit the use of internal combustion engines, then all automakers will simply be forced to urgently use new ones in their industry and perhaps remember forgotten old ones.

What drives the car?

We know from school that any object needs energy and strength to move. Thus, and according to the laws of physics, it turns out that mechanical energy is needed to move the vehicle. To obtain it, more than a hundred years ago, an internal combustion engine was invented for the first time, which, from the combustion of fuel, converts the received energy into mechanical energy. In the end, she drives the car.

Thanks to fuel system The internal combustion engine burns gasoline or diesel fuel, receiving the final energy after it is ignited, which is transmitted further to the wheels.

Also over 100 years ago in automotive industry they also invented an electric motor that runs on clean energy - from electricity. Unlike the same gasoline, the electricity itself does not need to be obtained in any way. It usually accumulates in the batteries that are installed in cars. Thus, in the end, the electric motor receives constant electrical energy, which is converted into mechanical energy and drives the car.

Steam vehicles and steam engine

First in the world steam engine was invented by Denis Papin back in 1690 (17th century). This power unit at that time was equipped with only one cylinder with a piston. This piston raised steam. It descended under the influence of atmospheric pressure after the exhaust steam was thickened.

As a result, the energy of the steam itself was converted into mechanical energy.

But the main revolution in steam engines was made by James Watt, who created an improved steam engine with an isolated chamber. Unfortunately, then it was not possible to create a full-fledged car Watt, this was due to a lack of funds.

Then and later, the inventor Nicolas-Joseph Conyu created the world's first moving vehicle on mechanical energy, which was obtained from the formation of steam. His invention was an army cart ("fardier à vapeur" - a steam cart), which was created to transport artillery army equipment. Its design used an improved steam and boiler, which was installed in the bow of the wagon.

Unfortunately, the weight of the cart was very huge, which made it practically unmanageable. During the tests of the carts, the designers realized the following that this carriage is very dangerous and often leads to accidents. Ultimately, this project ceased to exist.

In Russia, the first steam engine was created in 1763, it was invented by II Polzunov. The machine was used for blowing bellows at the Barnaul factories. Further, the development of steam engines was continued by the well-known and famous inventor Ivan Kulibin, who at one time built many steam engines.

The use of steam engines continued until the early 20th century.

The main disadvantage of steam engines is their efficiency, and in order to increase it, it was necessary to complicate the very design of the steam engine, which inevitably led to an increase in its weight. Ultimately, such a vehicle became much heavier, which directly influenced the engine power and the dynamics of this transport.

As a result, engineers were forced to complicate the design itself in order to add missing efficiency to steam engines, which in turn also led to an increase in the mass of the structure itself. In general, as the engineers said, it was a vicious circle that confirmed that the steam engine was not perfect and in the future it was just a dead end.

Thus, at the beginning of the 20th century, steam engines began to gradually disappear and were replaced by vehicles with internal combustion engines that already ran on gasoline.

Cars with internal combustion engines

In 1863, Nikolaus August Otto created a two-stroke naturally aspirated internal combustion engine. This engine had an efficiency in the region of 15 percent. Ignition was carried out with an open flame.

And already in 1886, Karl Benz created the world's first car with an internal combustion engine, which in its design was based on the engine created by August Otto. It was the world's first gasoline-powered car.

In 1899, Ludwig Nobel, at the plant bearing his name, built the world's first diesel carwhich ran on diesel fuel.

It was since then that the liquid-fueled internal combustion engine became the main engine for the entire global automotive industry, and it remains so to this day.

Electric cars

The most amazing thing about friends here is that themselves electric cars came to our world almost 50 years earlier than the appearance of the same vehicles, which were equipped with internal combustion engines.

It is also noteworthy that at the beginning of the same 20th century, these electric vehicles were incredibly popular and significantly outperformed cars with gasoline or diesel power units.

Indeed, unlike the same gasoline or diesel cars electric cars were virtually silent, and this allowed the driver and his passengers to receive while driving.

Unfortunately, all these advantages of the first electric cars were crossed out by one main disadvantage, they had a very small power reserve.

Let us remind our dear readers that the very first electric car appeared on the planet in 1841, which had a very small power reserve on one charged battery (about 20 km).

Unfortunately for us, more than 50 years after the invention of the electric motor, engineers have not figured out how to increase the range of electric vehicles. For example, by 1920, this range of electric vehicles averaged only 50 kilometers.

In addition, there were also difficulties with recharging the batteries themselves under normal conditions. Eventually, by 1930 and gradually, combustion engine vehicles had virtually and virtually destroyed all electric vehicles. This was certainly facilitated by the very development of gasoline and diesel enginesas well as the cheap cost of fuel and the development of the infrastructure of gas station networks around the world.

But recently, the auto industry again remembered this technology (electricity) and began the rapid development of electric transport, which, perhaps soon or in the near future, more than 100 years later, claims to again become the main mode of transport on our planet.

True, like more than 100 years ago, the entire auto industry is again faced with the same problems when creating modern electric cars. The main problem remains the same, it is the power reserve. Currently, most electric cars use a lithium-ion battery in their design. The main disadvantage of this type of battery is its weight and short charging time with a sufficiently small supply of electricity to power the electric motor.

But a real breakthrough in this today was made by Tesla, which created the world's first serial passenger car ( Tesla Model S) which has a large power reserve. True, for this a sufficiently large and heavy battery was created, which also takes a very long time to charge. But thanks to this, the company's engineers managed to increase the vehicle's power reserve to 400 kilometers.

At the moment, in many countries of the world (mainly in the USA), Tesla continues to develop its own network of electric filling stations, where equipment is installed that allows charging electric cars in an average of about 20-30 minutes (charging up to half the battery capacity). So it is possible that soon, thanks to the proliferation of such electric filling stations around the world, the demand for electric cars will only increase.

Unfortunately, it is currently not possible (not yet possible) to charge such a huge battery of an electric car faster. After all, this requires a very powerful chargerwhich does not exist in the world yet. But the technologies themselves continue to develop at a fairly rapid pace, and perhaps very soon we will have a breakthrough in this area of \u200b\u200bconservation of electrical energy. In this case, it can be predicted in advance that the growth in popularity of electric cars will be overwhelming.

Atomic car Ford Nucleon

Yes, yes friends, do not be surprised, there was such an ambitious project in the history of mankind.

In 1958, the American company Ford developed a concept car with a real nuclear reactor. It was expected that, on a single charge with radioactive substances, this car could travel (should have traveled) up to 8000 kilometers.

At its core, this nuclear reactor, which was planned to be installed on the Nucleon vehicle, was a miniature copy of the nuclear reactor used on military submarines.

It was planned to use fission of uranium as a fuel for heating the steam generator, which would convert heated water into steam. Then this steam under pressure would enter the turbines, which would rotate the car's drive itself.

Unfortunately, this ambitious project has remained a futuristic concept and is unlikely to ever return to our auto world.

After the Chernobyl and Fukushima disasters, nuclear power is considered the most dangerous in the world. So dear friends, in the next 100 - 150 years, this type of energy is unlikely to come to the auto industry.

Self-run vehicle

In 1752, in St. Petersburg, Leonty Shamshurenkov presented to the assembled public a self-propelled carriage that moved by rotating the pedals. His vehicle was equipped with foot pedals, which were chain-driven and rotated the wheels of a self-run vehicle.

Thanks to the simple design, the force spent on pedaling increases and the wheels of the vehicle receive enough energy to develop not so low speed.

Surprisingly, such vehicles are still produced by the automotive industry. There are even various competitions in the world that are held just on such self-run cars. An example of this is the recent world speed record for a self-run vehicle (just over 130 km / h).

Hydrogen cars

What are hydrogen cars? We answer. These are vehicles that use hydrogen as fuel.

The first internal combustion engine to run on hydrogen fuel was created by François Isaac de Rivaz in 1806.

Unfortunately, the use of hydrogen fuel as an alternative to the same gasoline is not very efficient. The point is this. Hydrogen quickly destroys the internal parts of the engine, it interacts with engine components and damages parts power unit in a short time. And second, because of the volatility of hydrogen, this fuel can penetrate into the exhaust system of the engine, which will inevitably lead to its ignition.

So from using hydrogen as an alternative to gasoline and diesel fuel the global auto industry had to be abandoned. But recently everything has changed ...

Thus, friends get ready, an amazing future awaits us, which even the most daring futurists in the world and science fiction writers could not imagine.

Technology

For some, traveling by public transport is the best way to travel, for others it is an eternal nightmare.

No matter what the past experience is or what you think of this mode of transportation now, modes of transport of the future, will definitely make you refuse to drive to work in the morning.

Personal automatic transport

Cocoon-like personal vehicles have been the hero of numerous science fiction films. After flying cars, perhaps these devices are most presented to us as the transport of the future.

This personalized fast city public transport is programmed to ensure that passengers never have to wait more than 12 seconds, and their routes are tuned to prevent congestion or traffic lights.

Like many other modes of transport on this list, personal auto transport is much more environmentally friendly than what we use today. The emission of harmful substances into the atmosphere is zero. The vehicle is 70 percent more energy efficient than cars and 50 percent more energy efficient than traditional buses.

So far, personal automatic transport does not have the ability to replace traditional methods of public transport in large cities, but it can act as an additional unloading on the tracks.

Road trains

For those who live in areas where there is essentially little public transport, road trains are the ideal solution.

A road train connects vehicles that travel in the same direction and at approximately the same distance from each other on the highway. The convoy is headed by a bus or a truck with experienced driverused on a specific route. Each vehicle in the convoy is automatically controlled by the host vehicle.

In addition, the company in charge of the project estimated that road trains could save about 20 percent of fuel per year. This system also significantly increases road capacity and reduces accidents by keeping sleepy and inattentive drivers monitored by a single experienced driver.

Pipe locomotive

In this converted locomotive, the tubular train passes through support rings located at a height and not like traditional railway tracks. The train will pass through them, and they will also control the movement of the locomotive.

The developers hope that the tube trains could act as both high-speed rail and public transport. The most aerodynamic model will be able to reach speeds of 240 km per hour for travel distances from 160 to 960 km, while the model designed for commuter travel will be able to reach speeds of about 140 km per hour.

Cross-border bus

You are driving on the highway in the morning and suddenly a huge shadow passes over your car. What looks like a carriage passes you and continues on its way. You have just met a cross-border bus, road catamaran.

The cross-border bus has been designed with the aim of relieving the road from daily traffic jams. The bus is high enough to easily pass over cars. It can carry up to 1200 passengers at a time.

In addition, the bus will reduce the amount of gas emissions from public transport. It runs on electricity and solar energy, and thus can save up to 860 tons of fuel per year.

Non-stop train system

The developer of the non-stop train system believes that trains are more inefficient due to the fact that they have to stop to pick up people.

The "Train That Never Stops" has a rooftop space through which passengers enter or leave the train. At each stop, one pod-shaped mechanism remains in the station, dropping off passengers, while another, the same one on the platform, filled with passengers, picks up the traveling train without stopping for a minute.

Firstly, non-stop trains will save time, since the minutes spent waiting at each station turn into an hour by the end of the day. Secondly, they will save energy, since constant acceleration and braking at the stations is spent great amount energy.

SkyTran - "Air Crossing"

SkyTran is a public transportation system that allows users to travel around the city in individual Sky pods, which are held onto rails by a magnetic field. The system works very much like a subway, but traveling on SkyTran is traveling over the streets. Plus, you don't have to share public transport space with the end-of-the-world chap.

Each Sky pod fits two. Transport can be organized throughout the city, with stops in every block.

The most interesting thing is that the Sky pod will travel to a precisely designated place. Users set their final destination when they board the vehicle, and it takes the fastest route to get there.

Biway Electric Bus

Biway is a bus that can turn into a train. These electric buses can join other buses to form a train-shaped coupling.

Through the use of "fiber highways", which are essentially railroad tracks, connected buses can move like automated trains. When the bus is moving on the freeway, it can recharge its battery. Another plus is the ability for passengers to move between buses when they are connected, which would possibly make transfer stops unnecessary.

City rope crossing

Who has not used a rope crossing at least once in their life? One of the designers, apparently, liked it so much that he decided that it would be a great public transport.

The system, called Kolelino, invites travelers and passengers to "step in" into an equipped harness that is powered by an engine. Batteries charge devices that move along cables and stop at various stations in the city.

The developers believe that the system can be used by passengers not only within the city, but also on the outskirts. The Kolelino device is a slightly heavy mechanical technique. But it uses far less energy and materials to build than the cars, trains and buses we use today.

Bike city

Cycle City has been proposed as a high-speed, all-season, non-polluting, ultra-quiet transit system that leverages the infrastructure of the cycle path network established throughout the city. Cycle paths will be designed to be used regardless of the season, with entrances and exits modeled after subway systems.

The project was originally proposed in Toronto, but was never built due to lack of funding and support. However, Velo-City may soon get a second chance, as more and more people choose to ride their bicycles to work, and special paths for them are becoming a serious problem.

Superbus - Superbus

High speed bus focuses on best conditions for the movement of passengers. Superbus is a 15-meter bus with 23 seats. The unique vehicle is equipped with a super-powerful electric drive, which allows it to move at a speed of 250 km per hour, consuming as much energy as a regular bus traveling at a speed of 100 km per hour.

Superbus will have a central route optimization system. This means that its routes will be completely customizable based on passengers' preferences and directions. Like many of the other modes of transportation on this list, not having to change trains could save time and money.

TUDelft, which created the bus, hopes that someday dedicated express routes will be developed for the Superbus, making travel even more efficient.

We are already accustomed to the fact that nothing changes in the transport we use every day. What the buses were 10-20 years ago, they have generally remained so. Cars don't fly. And even the flying boards like in the movie "Back to the Future" were never invented. When was the last time you drove something new? On a hydrogen bus or a self-driving taxi? But it looks like things are changing this time.

We have compiled a selection of the most promising technologies in our opinion that can change the transport environment in the not so distant future.

Hydrogen transport

In search of environmentally friendly fuel, scientists are increasingly turning to hydrogen. It may seem that this is the most "green" replacement for traditional fuel. No harmful emissions. Water produced by the reaction between oxygen and hydrogen to generate electricity is thrown out through exhaust pipe in the form of steam and does not cause any harm to nature. Or the synthesized water first accumulates and then simply flows onto the road, as is done in the Toyota Mirai.

By the way, Mirai for hydrogen transport is about the same as Tesla for electric one. This is the first production car on hydrogen fuel cells. True, the volume of production and sales, in comparison with the electric cars from Elon Musk, the hydrogen car from Toyota cannot yet boast. Last year, the sales target was only 700 cars, of which 400 were planned to be sold in Japan.

Today there are three factors preventing the spread of hydrogen transport. First, there is no essential ubiquitous network of hydrogen filling stations. And there are no filling stations because there is not the necessary number of cars for the construction of such a network to pay off. For personal transport, in contrast to public transport, which runs along the same routes, this is very important. Honda created the Home Energy Station to solve this problem. An autonomous home station for hydrogen production can be used both for refueling a car, the Honda FCV sedan powered by hydrogen will become serial this year, and for domestic needs.

The second factor is high price the hydrogen transport itself and equipment for filling stations. However, this does not stop the authorities of those cities that are well aware of air pollution. For example, hydrogen-fueled buses have been operating in London since 2010. A hydrogen bus travels at one gas station for 18 hours, releasing only water vapor into the air.

In the same year, a hydrogen cab - Fuel Cell Hybrid taxi - was presented to the British public. Externally no different from the usual, the same black and vintage, inside it hides hydrogen fuel cells, lithium batteries and an electric motor. This also allows him to move around without harmful emissions. The development of the hydrogen taxi was funded in part by the British government.

Given the rapid development of technology, it can be assumed that the problems with the cost of producing hydrogen technology will be solved, as well as the problems with the cost of the fuel itself. The cost of hydrogen used to fuel such transport is still high. And this is the third factor influencing its ubiquity.

In fact, hydrogen is the most abundant element in the universe. But it is quite difficult to find it in its pure form on our planet.

The hydrogen used as fuel can be extracted from a variety of sources. From natural gas by reforming, or by electrolysis of water, including the power of the sun or wind. So far, all these methods are quite expensive. Since, in fact, one type of fuel (energy) - natural gas and electrical energy are transformed into another. Benefit only in urban ecology. But as long as there are governments and numerous enthusiasts willing to invest in the development of hydrogen transport, we can hope that a solution to the problems hindering its development will be found.

However, it is not worth expecting that hydrogen cars will spread everywhere, even if diesel and gasoline become a thing of the past, hydrogen transport has another "green" competitor - electric transport.

Electric transport

Tesla Motors Elon Musk's company is on everyone's lips. This is, perhaps, the leader in its industry, and by far the main newsmaker. Musk creates an entire infrastructure for electric transport: electric cars, Supercharger charging stations for electric vehicles, builds a Gigafactory lithium battery plant in Nevada, and his sister company SolarCity produces solar panels that will also be used to generate electricity at charging stations.

Despite the fact that Tesla is engaged in personal transportation, the ideas of urban public transport are also not alien to Musk. This became clear in April this year, when at an event held by the Norwegian government, the entrepreneur "let slip" that Tesla is working on a project that will solve the transport problems of cities. What Tesla engineers are working on will no longer be a bus, but a new mode of transport that can be used collectively, but at the same time, passengers will be delivered to the required address, and not to stops. Details are not disclosed, but it is known that the cars will be autonomous, that is, move without a driver, and apparently electric.

But Elon Musk is not the only one who is obsessed with the idea of \u200b\u200btransferring transport to electric energy. And even more so public transport.

Strictly speaking, electric public transport has existed for a long time; these are well-known trolleybuses and trams. Metro trains and monorail trains are also powered by electricity. Another thing is that when developing the electric public transport of the future, engineers apply new technical solutions and capabilities that have appeared only recently.

For example, the cheapening of lithium-ion batteries makes it possible to create trolleybuses that pass part of the route without recharging from the contact network. This allows you not to build unnecessary infrastructure, or to remove contact wires where they do not look aesthetically pleasing. Such a trolleybus is charged while driving under the wires, and where there are none, it uses the energy stored in the batteries.

But the TOSA electric bus, which is being tested in Geneva, is recharged at stops while passengers get off and on. The developers called this process "flash charging". For charging battery takes only 15 seconds. It should be enough until the next stop with charging. The charging station is located in the canopy of the stop pavilion. In order to connect the battery contacts to it, the bus is equipped with a robotic arm placed on the roof.

Unmanned vehicles

Returning to Elon Musk and his new idea of \u200b\u200bpublic transport, we can assume that the idea is no longer new. Anyway, until we found out the details. The Dutch company 2getthere is already implementing something similar. And in the same April the company presented to the public its new, already the third project.

2getthere is known as a manufacturer of unmanned passenger cabins, which are already in use on the streets of Rotterdam (Netherlands), Masdar City (UAE), and now they will enter the streets of Singapore.

Residents and guests of Singapore will be able to use them starting from the end of this year. They are completely autonomous, run on electricity and will be able to move not only where car traffic is allowed, but also inside closed areas, such as school campuses. The unmanned cabins, which will be produced for Singapore, are designed to carry 24 people and are more spacious than those already used in Masdar City. They are designed for 4-6 passengers.

Self-driving vehicles have their advantages, and it's not just about saving on the driver's salary. It is also important here that you need to transport one less person. For transport moving on the ground, this is certainly not so critical, but for air transport it is important. Of course, it's too early to talk about unmanned aerial buses that will run over cities. But the unmanned air taxi has already been presented to the public.

EHang has been trying to create a passenger drone for a long time. The first version of such a transport was more like a fantastic pepelats from the movie "Kin-dza-dza!" But the eHang 184 presented at the Las Vegas show in January this year already looks like a real pre-production sample.

Essentially, an aircraft is a giant quadcopter designed to carry one passenger. It is capable of lifting a person and cargo weighing up to 118 kg on board and reaching speeds of up to 100 km / h.

Given the speed at which conventional drones designed for carrying cargo and aerial photography are developing, it can be assumed that unmanned air taxis will appear in large metropolitan areas after a while. It is difficult to imagine whether air taxis will paint yellow and draw checkers, but we can definitely say that "Let's go, chef!" there will be no one to say.

Personal gyrotransport

When talking about the transport of the future, sometimes you have to hear that a bicycle will become one of the modes of transport of the future. Despite the fact that this type of transport will celebrate its bicentennial next year, it does not become obsolete and its popularity is even growing. But it's not about him now. The fact that many people choose not to travel by bus, or another form of public transport, do not private car, namely, a bicycle indicates the need for light personal transport. And the future offers new solutions here.

As we see, the transport that we want to see in the future should be environmentally friendly and “smart”. The solutions proposed by two inventors and entrepreneurs, Dean Kamen and Shane Chen, are just like that. We are talking about personal electric gyrotransportation.

Dean Kamen is known as the founder of Segway Inc and the inventor of the vehicle that has already become a household name - Segway. The two-wheeled platform, equipped with two electric motors and a self-balancing system, allows you to travel at speeds up to 20 km / h. Transport can be used both indoors and outdoors. There is also a special off-road version. And it is charged from an ordinary household outlet.

The difference between the segway and everything else that was done earlier is that you need to move while standing, and the wheels are not one after the other, like a bicycle or motorcycle, but on the sides of the rider's platform. And in order for such a device not to tip over backward or forward, a system of gyroscopic sensors and "smart" electronics was invented, which instructs the wheels to roll the platform towards the inclination.

It took the inventor 10 years to create the Segway. The idea became so popular that the Chinese became interested in it, and began to produce similar devices in violation of Keimen's patents. One of the Chinese companies that succeeded in this field was Ninebot, which is owned by the Chinese company Xiaomi. At first, Dean Kamen tried to sue, but then changed his mind and sold his company to Ninebot.

Ninebot is also known for other types of gyrotransportation. A light version of the segway, most often called a mini-segway or a gyro scooter and unicycle. Based on all the same principles of self-balancing by means of gyroscopic sensors, they are becoming more and more popular.

But the unicycle, also called a gyrocycle, was invented by the already mentioned American inventor of Chinese origin Shane Chen. He also invented the so-called gyroboard (aka hoverboard). The production of these transportation gadgets has become so massive that not so long ago Shane Chen complained that the patents he received for his invention were useless. Gyroboards are produced by 11 thousand enterprises in China and he cannot do anything with them. Produced these devices, according to the inventor, more than a billion pieces. And he does not receive any royalties for his patents.

Such mass production suggests that personal electric transport is gaining popularity, and in the future will be no less common than a bicycle.

In addition, it is worth noting that the described modes of transport should not be confused with gyroscars, which maintain balance using massive gyroscopes - flywheels. Here, gyroscopes are used only as sensors, and balance is achieved due to the movement of the wheels.

Flywheel balance gyroscars are also being developed, such as the two-wheeled Lit C-1 from Lit Motors. But so far this idea is not popular enough to talk about such machines as the transport of the future.

New roads of the future

If we are talking about the fact that vehicles are changing, then we cannot fail to say that the roads along which they move can also change. And this is not just an even smoother and more even asphalt, it is something more.

British state-owned road construction and maintenance company Highways England plans to build a test track under the roadway that will house battery recharging equipment for electric vehicles.

An electric car, in order to be able to recharge on the road, must support inductive charging technology. This will allow electric vehicle owners to travel significant distances without visiting charging stations. However, they plan to build charging stations anyway. They will be located along the road at a distance of 11 kilometers from each other.

But if in Britain they create roads that will distribute electricity, then in the USA they are developing roads capable of generating it. Inventors Julia and Scott Bruso decided to create "solar roads" consisting of glass tiles. Such a surface will be resistant to damage, withstand the weight of multi-ton trucks and provide the same tire grip as normal asphalt. But most importantly, they generate electricity, as they contain solar cells that convert solar energy into electric current. The project, named Solar Roadways, has already received monetary support from the state.