Automotive power source in 21st century

This paper describes the state and future trends of the conventional vehicles as well as advanced vehicles. In the 21st century, owing to social demands for low emissions, low energy consumption and oil-alternative resources, it seems that the keen competition for the advanced vehicles such as alternative fuel vehicles, hybrid electric vehicles, electric vehicles and fuel cell vehicles (FCVs) has been intensified. Above all, hybrid technologies will perform an important role because they can be combined with not only internal combustion engines but also FCVs. (C) 2003 Society of Automotive Engineers of Japan, Inc. and Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.