Motor vehicles already account for 90 per cent of carbon monoxide emissions and 90 per cent of the lead present in urban air. In some cities, photochemical smog and ground-level ozone concentrations have been so high on occasion that autos have been banned temporarily to help fight air pollution. Sadly, the poor air quality caused by autos has become a major health threat in Mexico City. Further, it has been estimated that approximately 500,000 people around the world will die in car crashes this year and more than 15 million will be injured. With more than 40 million new autos having been built last year, and markets in Asia and Eastern Europe set to explode over the next decade, the automobile seems to be unstoppable.
All indications point to an automobile population of one billion by the turn of the century.
But it will be a major task to wean motorists from their love affair with the car because most modern cities were built around the mobility made possible by cars. To respond to the major problems caused by cars, automobile makers are trying to make engines cleaner and they are exploring ways to keep traffic moving. The environmental challenges faced by automakers can be illustrated by recent developments in California. This figure must rise to 10 per cent in 2003, amounting to 100,000 vehicles in California alone. Almost certainly, the only way these regulations can be met is to use electric engines, but today's designs must be powered by batteries weighing up to 1500 kg for every 50 kg of gasoline used in conventional internal combustion engines.