Peugeot's compressed air hybrid car could be a game changer

摘要

Car manufacturers are investing billions to build an alternative to the internal combustion engine. The trouble is, they don't know yet which new technology will win. There is no shortage of pretenders racing to replace 100-year old petrol and diesel-powered motors. Purists who want to quickly replace carbon-dioxide spewing traditional engines are pushing battery-only electric cars and fuel-cells. Others who believe it makes more sense to gradually replace traditional technology by helping make it more fuel efficient are cheering on hybrids, which use batteries to raise efficiency, or making internal combustion engines more efficient with fly-wheels, cylinder de-activation and turbo-charging. New global supplies of gas using fracking techniques suggest this also may be a plentiful and cleaner fuel to power cars into the future.