Every New Car Will Be a Hybrid by 2020

All new cars will have some degree of hybridization by 2020, by which point battery technology will be ubiquitous and vehicles will communicate with one another and the road to make driving safer and easier.
That vision of the future is laid out in "Automotive 2020: Clarity Beyond the Chaos," (.pdf) by the IBM Institute for Business Value. The report, based on interviews with 125 auto industry executives in 15 countries, says the industry is on the cusp of revolutionary changes that will see environmental sustainability and technological innovation become top priorities as automakers respond to consumer demands for more efficient cars that don’t sacrifice performance, comfort or reliability.
"In the next 10 years, we will experience more change than in the 50 years before," says an executive with a European automaker who, like all of those quoted in the report, was not named.
The revolution already has begun.

There is mounting agreement among automakers, policymakers and environmentalists that the electrification of the automobile is inevitable and most of the major automakers are developing hybrid and plug-in hybrid vehicles. Although such vehicles currently make up less than 3 percent of the market, the report finds "some degree of hybridization will be evident in all vehicles produced in 2020 and beyond." That may seem ambitious, but other studies say interest in gas-electric vehicles is exploding and sales could hit 2 million a year by 2013, when there could be 89 different models on the market.
Battery technology will be ubiquitous within 12 years, the report states, and automakers and their suppliers will focus much of their R&D on the software and electronics needed to integrate them into vehicles. "Energy storage is in the heart of the next generation of efforts for fuel economy," the report quotes one American executive saying. Several automakers plan to offer electric vehicles in America beginning in 2010, and Mitsubishi will begin testing one in California later this year. Still, battery costs — which the report estimates at 10 to 15 percent of the cost of the cars that use them — will remain a significant barrier to rapid market penetration.
Investment in biofuels will continue, although the technology "must undergo rapid evolution for global application and proliferation," the report states, noting that ethanol from corn and other food crops is a dead end but cellulosic ethanol "has the potential to see widespread acceptance." Traditional fossil fuels will comprise just 65 percent of the market by 2020, by which point average vehicle CO2 emissions will fall to 97 grams per kilometer — seven grams less than the Toyota Prius emits today.
As for hydrogen, keep waiting. Although the report finds "hydrogen fuel cell vehicles will remain a viable alternative," even the optimists don’t see them comprising more than a small fraction of vehicles by 2020. Few expect the infrastructure needed to generate, transport and distribute hydrogen to be in place anytime soon.
We’ll see just as much innovation in vehicle electronics as our cars get smarter and do more in the years to come. We’re already seeing the dawn of the .car era as BMW, Chrysler and other automakers rush to bring internet connectivity to your dashboard and companies like Volvo develop systems to make cars virtually crash-proof. By 2020, the report states, cars will communicate with one another to prevent accidents, communicate with the road to respond to changing traffic conditions and use telemetrics to diagnose and repair problems.
As cars increasingly rely on batteries and advanced electronic systems, automakers will have to ally themselves with the consumer electronics, telecommunications and energy industries, the report states. This, too, already is beginning to happen. Several automakers are working with Microsoft to develop their own versions of Sync. Nissan and NEC, like Toyota and Panasonic, are working together on batteries. General Motors has joined 34 utilities to prepare the nation’s electrical grid for plug-in hybrid and electric vehicles. Such collaborations will only grow more common.
"The era when all work could be done within the industry is over," one Japanese executive says. "Now we need to interface with several external entities to get work done."

Aston Martin Twenty Twenty Sports Car concept designed by Giorgetto and Fabrizio Giugiaro of ItalDesign

2020 Aston Martin Twenty Twenty Sports Car concept designed by Giorgetto and Fabrizio Giugiaro of ItalDesign (2001)

2020 Aston Martin Twenty Twenty Sports Car concept

Geneva is one of the world’s great auto shows, if for no other reason than it’s the place where Italy’s organisation houses and coachbuilders -carrozzerie- annually listing out their latest construct cars. This year, Aston Martin previewed the production edition its voluptuous Vanquish (covered elsewhere in this issue). But that wasn’t the only Aston on the show floor. The Aston Martin Twenty Twenty construct from 2001 was designed by Giorgetto and Fabrizio Giugiaro of ItalDesign.

2020 Aston Martin Twenty Twenty Sports Car concept

The fully-functioning concept car was witting as a vision for a convertible Aston Martin sports car for the year 2020. Italdesign sprung this amazing car on the unsuspecting visitors to the 2001 Geneva Salon L’Auto. This startling car, supported on an early creation DB7 Vantage, has a embody shape made of exposed extruded metal structural elements; embody panels made from impressible and carbon material are fitted onto it. Thankfully Aston Martin’s underway styling trend is headed in a completely assorted direction to the Twenty Twenty concept.

The brushed metal highlighting lines which adorn the Aston Martin Twenty Twenty are an example organisation feature. However their overuse (especially around the front) gives the concept an unusual, nearly comical appearance from whatever angles. The grille touch nearly looks same lipstick.

2020 Aston Martin Twenty Twenty Sports Car concept

The Twenty Twenty is supercharged by face mounted, uprated version of the 6 litre V12 from the DB7 Vantage, said to produce 500bhp – visible through a grilled fairing on the bonnet. Initially it appears to be a strict 2 seater, although the rear bulkhead can be removed to wage seating for digit children. The rear of the Aston Martin Twenty Twenty (from the doors back) is more attractive with more standpat ingest of bare aluminium. The fleecy top is stored in its own special housing that can be slotted into position between the roll-bar and the windscreen, ‘Targa’ fashion. Notice the strange entranceway hinges – derived from the classic Aston aerofoil vent, are both nonfunctional and functional elements.

2020 Aston Martin Twenty Twenty Sports Car concept

Giorgetto Giugiaro and Aston histrion previously co-operated in 1961, when Carrozzeria Bertone worked on the two-seater DB4GT Jet coupe prototype. And same the original ‘Jet’ car, the 2020 is destined to remain unique. Aston histrion are believed to hit thought the 2020 ‘interesting’, but no plans were ever made even for restricted production. As the Twenty Twenty isn’t an authorised Aston histrion design project, don’t look for any sort of production version. What about the name? Simple: It’s the constituent commonly used to describe perfect vision. And the Giugiaros clearly hit good eyes.

2020 Aston Martin Twenty Twenty Sports Car concept

In March 2004, I received an e-mail claiming the 2020 was for sale, but I hit been unable to encounter some meaning to this anywhere. But the car was seen for the first time in the UK at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, June 2005.