A research firm is predicting the death of auto insurance due to new and emerging technologies in the auto industry. Those technologies specifically include collision avoidance technology, telematics, automated traffic enforcement, and self-driving cars.

Google has been experimenting with the latter technology for at least a couple of years now and has even gone so far as to get license for testing in the state of Nevada. Telematics and collision avoidance technology have already been added onto some late model vehicles. These technologies can only get better.

But that’s not necessarily good news for the insurance industry.

Fewer accidents and the ability to prevent more accidents can only mean less revenue for insurance companies. After all, the product might not even be necessary any more in 10 or 20 years.

“In the near term, an auto insurer should be asking itself three questions,” says Donald Light, Senior Analyst with Celent’s Insurance group and author of the report. “First, how is it monitoring technology-driven changes in insured losses, (i.e., the progress of the scenario)? Second, do scenario technologies provide new kinds of data and analytics-driven changes in pricing, underwriting, etc.? And third, what should it do differently this year and next?”

And on top of that I’d add that long term, insurance companies might want to think of a different business model. Maybe collision insurance won’t be necessary in the aggregate. But what if telematics fails? Or what if something with a vehicle’s collision avoidance technology goes awry?

In those situations, the vehicle driver won’t be liable, but the auto manufacturer may be. The same could be said for self-driving cars. If the robotics function acts dysfunctionally leading to an accident, then the vehicle manufacturer or the maker of the robotics technology may be liable for any accidents. Insurance companies may find new customers.

May has been declared National Youth Traffic Safety Month. One company in Irvine, California is partnering with a Dallas-Fort Worth TV station to bring awareness to safe teen driving practices.

Location Based Technologies is a GPS services provider. In conjunction with NBC 5, a TV station in DFW, the company is making public safety announcements and providing safe driving tips throughout the North Texas region.

“We believe that teen driving and safety are very important, and we are committed to helping parents stay connected and monitor their teen driver wherever their vehicle takes them,” said Location Based Technologies CEO Dave Morse.

Location Based Technologies isn’t performing this public safety campaign for strictly altruistic purposes of course. The company is the maker of PocketFinder Vehicle Locator, a GPS product that can help parents locate their children and pets, and more specifically to monitor their teen’s driving habits.

Through the app parents can track and supervise their teen’s driving from Web-enabled devices.

Parents can also set speed limits using Pocketfinder and establish zones where the device automatically sends alerts when their teen is leaving or arriving a certain area.

The Pocketfinder is about the size of a deck of cards and connects to the vehicle’s battery. This allows parents to pinpoint the vehicle on a map using GPS technology. Teen safe driving is one of the most important obligations a parent has toward their sons and daughters. Modern technology is making it easier.

Eventually, all things must die. But must all things be transported in a funeral car? The owners and managers of one movie theater in East Greenville, Pennsylvania think so.

The Grand Theater, like many other movie theaters across the country, are lamenting the loss of the 35mm film projector. In a move that’s come to be called “convert or die” due to Hollywood’s conversion to total digital some time next year, movie theaters are now having to convert their technological systems, which is costing them money. If they don’t make the investment they will likely go out of business.

The move is totally symbolic, of course, but as a show of respect for the film that has been the mainstay of the theater business for many decades, the owners of Grand Theater in East Greenville wheeled a hearse to their front doors and carried out the old film they will no longer be using.

It’s no secret that the entire world is making a big digital change. As many old mainstays are converting from analog to digital (books, movies, music, art, etc.), there will undoubtedly be many more deaths to mourn and lives to celebrate. It just goes to show that respect for the dead does not merely conform to persons. Technology can also be venerated.

In Europe where gas prices have been at $6 per gallon for years, people drive diesel cars. I mean, you see them everywhere. And there’s a reason. Diesel engines are clean and efficient. Plus, they save money for the drive. Americans are starting to figure that out now.

Diesel car sales have jumped 35% in the U.S. in the first quarter of 2012. I can’t help but think the primary reason for that is because gas prices have doubled in the last three years.

Many consumers are turning to hybrid and electric vehicles, but those technologies have not been around as long as diesel engine technology. They are yet unproven. And the price of the vehicles is still out of range for a lot of consumers. Diesel engines are more familiar to U.S. drivers and the technology has proven itself time and time again.

All of that spells one thing: Consumer confidence.

Many American vehicle manufacturers already have diesel engine vehicles on the road. Ford, for instance, has introduced the diesel-version of its Ford Fiesta for European drivers. I can only imagine that the vehicle will start selling in the U.S. as well.

As U.S. drivers become more educated on the environmental impact of driving diesel vehicles it is likely that sales will continue to climb. Driving diesel means going green.

Every now and then an auto manufacturer will get a notion to remake one of its models. Sometimes that works out and sometimes it doesn’t. In the case of Nissan, the plan is to take the Altima from the No. 2 position in its class to the No. 1 position, currently held by the Toyota Camry.

So can the Altima beat out the Camry in the midsize sedan category? We’ll have to wait and see, but that’s what Nissan is banking on.

March of this year was the biggest month in sales for the auto industry as a whole since August 2007. That signifies that the economy may be making a comeback and perhaps automobiles will start selling again. But while the industry is on a roll, Nissan is trying to make an end run. They missed the No. 1 sales position in the midsize sedan class by 1,500 units.

Nissan wants to increase its market share in the U.S. and they’re hoping that future sales of the Altima will help them do that. It’s a good bet if you ask me.

The new Altima will arrive at auto dealerships in June. That gives consumers a little bit of time to do some research, find out what the Altima has improved upon, and to make the necessary comparisons before they trade in their current vehicle for a new one.

Guess who’s nosing in on the funeral car market. Rolls Royce.

When you think about Rolls Royce, what’s the first thing that comes to your mind? I bet it isn’t funeral processions and caskets. It’s probably luxury and style. That’s what I think about when the RR brand is mentioned.

Well, not any more. The luxury car manufacturer is entering the funeral car business with a new luxury vehicle called Phantom Hearse. What a name!

The car is built by Biemme Special Cars and the price tag for the new funeral vehicle tops out at $662,000.

Bearing the distinction as the world’s most luxurious and expensive funeral car, the Phantom Hearse is sure to turn some heads, but I’m betting that there will be funeral companies who purchase the vehicle and it will be used for services – most likely by members of the celebrity class.

The Rolls Royce Phantom Hearse features a 6.75-liter V12 engine because you really need that power when you lead a procession at 25 miles per hour. It’s also made entirely of aluminum and sits on a self-leveling air suspension. More than 600 assembled parts went into making the luxury hearse and more than 650 feet of welding.

This makes me wonder just how much a family would pay to have their deceased love one escorted in the back of a luxury funeral car.

Ten years ago, a company called SpaceX was founded with the goal of helping make the human race a multi-planetary species. Today, SpaceX remains firmly committed to this goal and plans to do everything within its power to help make this happen. Although we have not covered SpaceX here on our blog, we have been tracking this company of tomorrow for more than a year now, mostly on our Facebook page.

Below is a collection of some of SpaceX’s most memorable moments from the last ten years. Much of what SpaceX has accomplished has been with the generous assistance of NASA which recently phased out the Space Shuttle program.

Elon Musk founded SpaceX in 2002 and opened its first manufacturing facility in El Segundo – at the center of Southern California’s aerospace industry.

In 2006, NASA awarded SpaceX a contract under the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program to develop the capability to carry cargo to and from the International Space Station as represented by the image shown here.

SpaceX’s Falcon 1 rocket became the 1st liquid fueled rocket developed by a private company to reach Earth orbit. This picture shows the nozzle of Falcon 1’s upper stage engine just as it achieved orbit, nine and a half minutes after launch.

In 2008, NASA selected SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft to take over the job of transporting cargo to and from the Space Station from the retiring space shuttle. While initial flights focused on cargo, Falcon 9 and Dragon were designed from the beginning to transport crew; every cargo flight to the Space Station gets SpaceX one step closer to this goal.

Falcon 1 delivered its first commercial payload to Earth orbit – the RazakSAT satellite for Malaysia. In this image, you see the two halves of the faring that covered the satellite during launch fall back to Earth after separating.

In 2010, SpaceX launched the first flight of Falcon 9, one of the most advanced rockets in the world. The first launch achieved a nearly perfect insertion of the second stage and Dragon spacecraft qualification unit into the targeted 250 km (155 mi) circular orbit.

Also in 2010, the second flight of Falcon 9 orbited the first operational Dragon spacecraft under the NASA COTS program, and SpaceX became the first private company to recover a spacecraft from Earth orbit—a feat previously only accomplished by a few nations.

Stay tuned for more updates on SpaceX’s first upcoming mission to Station, Falcon Heavy and SpaceX’s progress in preparing Dragon to transport crew.

Remember George Jetson? How we marveled over the fact that his car could fly? And we wanted one too.

Well, now you can have your very own flying car. If you have the money and a pilot’s license.

The Terrafugia Transition seats two passengers and was built by trained engineers from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. If you have the license to fly, then your flying car can take off from as many as 5,000 public airfields across the U.S.

It’s a shame it can’t just take off from the road you’re on so you can get out of having to stop at that traffic light. But it is a flying vehicle, after all. Therefore, you need the proper license and still must follow the rules of other flying vehicles. But when it’s not flying, it’s still just a car. Road rules then apply.

The flying vehicle cost early adopters a whopping $279,000. That’s still cheaper than a lot of airplanes and more expensive than most cars.

But if you’ve got the money to burn and you want to be the first guy, or gal, on your block to be able to fly your own car to the next company board meeting, then why not?

The Transition is going to be showcased in New York soon at the International Auto Show. A special offer is being made to anyone interested that will cost them $2,500 for a reservation fee (initial reservationists paid $10,000). Terrafugia’s CEO and founder, Carl Dietrich, is hoping to sell 500 vehicles per year. And we think that would just just be grand.

Older drivers were taught to drive safely before the use of airbags. But now that airbags are common and are installed in every new vehicle before it is sold, you may be driving wrong. That’s what safety experts are saying.

The new case study makes mention of two specific driving habits that are outdated: The placement of your hands on the steering wheel and the movement of your hands when turning your vehicle.

Drivers used to be taught that you should place your hands at the 2 o’clock and the 10 o’clock positions on the steering wheel. Now, safety experts are saying to place your hands at the 9 o’clock and 3 o’clock positions. Why the change?

The reason is because placing your hands higher on the steering wheel can put them in the way of your airbag. If your airbag deploys during an accident, then it could push your hands into your face and break your nose or injure you in some other way. So you should place your hands lower on the steering wheel to keep them out of the deploying airbag’s natural path.

For the same reason, safety experts are saying that the old turning method of using hand-over-hand maneuvering to turn your steering wheel is no longer valid. That method puts your hands in front of the airbag. Again, that’s a safety hazard.

Instead, drivers should push up with one hand and down with the other. That way, your hands stay clear of the airbag should it deploy and you are more likely to avert any serious injury to your face due to your airbag pushing your hands into it.

How do you solve the energy crisis and the transportation problem in one whack? An inventor named Scott Brusaw has the answer: Solar roadways.

Solar roadways involve taking scraps from landfills and converting it, along with other materials, into an infrastructure of roadways that are in essence made of glass and operate as solar panels. He’s already built a prototype.

If successful, the solar roadway project has long range implications in a number of areas practical to society including:

• Reducing the garbage in the world’s landfills
• Providing for a more efficient energy service that is capable of providing light and electricity, cable TV, Internet, and other amenities to every home connected to the grid
• Elimination of our current telephone and electric wiring systems with all those ugly power lines
• Forced migration from petroleum-based engineering (such as asphalt roads) to a system that can pay for itself
• Provision for “hooking up” electric vehicles to be charged anywhere along the grid taking the nation off of fossil fuels completely and reducing the carbon footprint of every American
• A reversal of global warming

So how soon could we see our first solar roadway? According to Brusaw, it could be within two years.

How’s that for a complete overhaul?

Have you ever wondered what it would take to start a rent-a-car service? With RelayRides you don’t need to. You can rent out your own car.

The concept is real simple. Car owners can rent out their car by the day or by the hour. You are encouraged to set your own prices, but it is recommended to charge $5 per hour or $40 per day for a full-size sedan.

Currently, RelayRides is available in San Francisco and Chicago. Car owners get 60% of the revenue their vehicles deliver.

This is a new concept in car sharing. If you have an aversion to other people driving your vehicle, then it might not be for you. But in these economic times when gas prices are approaching $4 per gallon, you might be able to use the extra income. If you aren’t using your car, then rent it out.

People who rent your car will be expected to return it in the same condition it was in when they rented it. That is, they should clean it out and put gas in it, just as they would with a traditional rental car.

If you choose to offer your vehicle for rent through RelayRides, your car will be insured by RelayRides through a $1 million insurance policy. Car renters are responsible for the first $500 in repairs.

Image credit: Wikipedia

Automobile-related laws in the US vary significantly from one state to the next. Some states require routine vehicle inspections. Others ask for emissions monitoring or require motorists to maintain very high levels of insurance coverage. These regulations are ostensibly designed to improve safety and reduce pollution, but they can also be inconvenient or costly for many drivers. Add in poor road maintenance programs, crowded highways and excessive trucking traffic and some states can be extremely driver-unfriendly. Not all areas are like this, however. Some states are extremely driver-friendly, with reasonable laws and smooth, easy to use highways.

Gas Prices

Many drivers consider the cost of gasoline one of the most important factors in determining driver friendliness. Average fuel costs vary according to season, with prices rising as more drivers get on the road in warm weather. They also vary up to about 36 percent by region. New Jersey consistently maintains lower gas prices than other states, due to its high percentage of oil refineries. South Carolina also has low costs for gasoline, making it very friendly to drivers who need fuel. The least friendly states are Alaska and Hawaii, where fuel is costly because of the long distances it must travel.

Insurance Costs

The cost of insurance can vary significantly between states, too. Due to differing state insurance requirements, rates of theft and accident, and regulations on the insurance industry, rates can vary by 300 percent. Drivers looking for very friendly insurance rates should consider Vermont and Maine. Michigan and Louisiana have some of the highest rates in the country, however.

Road Quality

Some states just have better infrastructure, including stronger bridges, smoother roads and better safety indicators. A better road means fewer delays and better gas mileage, as well as a reduction in accident risk. Montana and North Dakota rank best in terms of friendly infrastructure. The largest state in the Union and the smallest – Alaska and Rhode Island – are the least friendly. When ranked in terms of road smoothness alone, Georgia is the winner. Eighty-six percent of this state’s paved roads have earned a roughness index of 94 or better per mile, producing a friendly surface for drivers.

Motorist’s Rights

There’s always a risk of getting pulled over while driving. Depending on where this happens, drivers could find the experience a relatively easy one or suffer from police exploitation and unfair court systems. Factors for friendliness to motorist’s rights include radar detector legality, number of speed traps per resident, allowed law enforcement behaviors, and the way the courts treat defendants for vehicle offenses. Drivers can expect the most protections in Idaho and Wyoming. In Ohio, North Carolina and New Jersey, the climate is considerably less friendly.

Traffic Density

Few drivers enjoy traveling on a crowded highway. Populous states tend to have greater highway crowding, especially if they contain large travel and shipping hubs. Lower-population states have very low crowding. For instance, in North Dakota, each lane-mile of highway sees only 41,000 vehicle miles worth of travel per year. In Washington DC, the highways see about 22 times that much traffic, with the accompanying delays. In terms of trucking traffic, Hawaii ranks as the friendliest, while almost a quarter of the traffic in Wyoming is made up of large trucks.

Safety

In terms of safety, Mississippi ranks the worst with 2.28 fatalities for every 100 vehicle miles driven. Massachussets is the safest state in terms of fatalities, with only 0.87 fatalities per 100 vehicle miles. Lower speed limits produce safer driving too, though they can make a trip feel much slower. The highest speed limits are found in Oklahoma, Nevada and South Dakota, where drivers can go up to 75 miles per hour on the Interstate or 70 mph on state highways. In Washington DC, where traffic is a big problem, the official speed limit is 55 miles per hour. Enforcement against speeders is strict, too. The nation’s capital issues 400,000 tickets via photo radar every year. New Jersey is much friendlier in terms of enforcement, issuing the least traffic tickets per vehicle mile of any state in the country.

Statistics aren’t the only indicators for driver-friendliness, but they’re a good place to start. Drivers who want a good experience without too much heavy traffic, overzealous law enforcement or high gas prices may do well in the western US and parts of the South. Washington DC and other large cities tend to produce a much less desirable driving experience due to their packed highways, low speed limits and driver-unfriendly legal systems.

Miles Walker is a freelance blogger who usually writes about getting the best auto insurance comparison over at Car Insurance Comparison .org. His recent review looked at Hawaii car insurance.

USA Today asks if vehicle safety is tied to in-dash technology. Or, more succinctly, are cars to blame for distracted driving?

If you’ve ever seen an accident where the person at fault was someone talking on the phone or texting, then you know the answer to that question. The problem is, now, auto manufacturers are beginning to add technological features to vehicles in the dash that can be just as distracting. These include:

• Bluetooth
• Satellite radio
• GPS navigation
• USB ports

And there’s plenty more.

Of course, these same auto makers are also adding voice activation control to those gadgets, so there’s really no excuse for drivers to fiddle with them while they are driving. Still, old habits die hard.

Don’t be surprised if future vehicle safety inspectors take in-dash technology into consideration. Your car might be reviewed based on how safe the manufacturer makes your in-dash technology.

That wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing. If drivers can’t police themselves, then it might be pressed upon the auto manufacturers to help reduce the distractions for drivers by reducing the appeal of in-dash technology to within finger distance.

What do you think? Would safety inspections for in-dash technology be a good thing?

The great-grandson of Henry Ford is lobbying for a radical change in how vehicles are driven in the future. Bill Ford is the executive chairman of Ford Motor Company and he is making huge predictions about how vehicles in the future will interact with each other and pedestrians.

Among the predictions Ford is making are:

• A 2-billion person increase in world population will lead to a quadrupling of the number of vehicles on the road and potential for traffic gridlocks.
• Vehicles will be driven in “platoons” and be electronically linked.
• A “rolling collection of sensors” will prevent auto accidents at danger points.
• Cars will be able to navigate on their own by mid-century.
• Another mid-century prediction is that pedestrians, bicycles, and cars will all be interlinked within a “single connected network.”
• You’ll be able to plot and reserve a parking space in transit and your vehicle will park itself.
• Vehicles will detect school zones, highway workers, and traffic lights with the ability to “communicate” with them.
• Within 5 to 10 years auto-pilot technology will allow drivers to take over if necessary.

In truth, none of these are really fanciful predictions. Auto visionaries have already developed the technology to make much of this happen including auto-piloted vehicles (Google has a self-driving car that it has been testing for at least a year), Bluetooth technology that allows vehicles to communicate with each other to prevent accidents, and in-dash GPS navigation.

While the technology is there it can only get better. The future might look like a science fiction movie.

J.D. Power says vehicle dependability has risen by 13% from the year before on 2009 model cars. Vehicles that ranked at the top in terms of dependability include Lexus, Porsche, Cadillac, Toyota, Scion, Ford, GM, Nissan, and Hyundai Genesis.

Lexus wins the top dog award. Any surprises there? Not for us.

It’s also no surprise that Porsche and Cadillac are in the top 5 winners where vehicle dependability is concerned. Toyota is always up there, but consumers have enjoyed driving Toyota vehicles ever since they hit the U.S. market.

The biggest winners in terms of dependability awards are Toyota, Lexus, and Scion with eight awards each. Ford won three. GM and Nissan each won two.

The study was conducted between October and December last year. 31,000 vehicle owners of 2009 model vehicles were surveyed for the report. The average number of problems per 100 vehicles for the 2012 study was 132. That’s 19 problems less than last year’s study and the lowest problem rate since the first year the study was conducted in 1990.

Specific winners in the J.D. Power dependability study segments include:

• Toyota Yaris for subcompact cars
• Toyota Prius for best compact vehicle
• Scion tC for best sporty compact
• Ford Fusion for best midsize car
• Lexus ES 350 and Lincoln MKZ tied for best entry premium vehicle
• Hyundai Genesis for best midize premium
• Buick Lucerne for best large car

Congratulations to all of these winners and congratulations to the auto industry for achieving the best dependability rating in more than 20 years.

It happened in January. Kelley Blue Book published a press release announcing an expected increase in used car prices of 3% to 5% in the first quarter of 2012. So if you’ve been seeing used car prices going up, that’s why.

But here’s the kicker. The price increase is supposed to keep going well into the second quarter of 2012. So if you’re planning to purchase a used vehicle, then now is the time.

It’s always a good policy to buy now rather than later unless you are talking about investment assets and you see values on the downward trend. When it comes to automobiles, prices rarely go down. And since new cars lose value the moment they are driven off the lot, car buyers usually can do better to purchase a used vehicle that is a couple of years old.

Kelley Blue Book has been offering consumers information on new and used car values for years. It’s a trusted source. If they say that used car prices are trending upward, then we believe them.

According to KBB, mid-sized car trade-in values increased the most in January, by an average of .9% in one week. But redesigns are where the big increases are this year.

“Consumers eyeing one of the many highly acclaimed redesigned 2011 model-year vehicles for their next used car should be prepared to pay a significant premium,” said Alec Gutierrez, senior market analyst of automotive insights for Kelley Blue Book.

Specifically, the trade-in value of the 2012 redesign of Kia Optima increased by 51.7%.

I’ll say it again. If you’re looking to buy a used car this year, better do it now.

Edmunds is always innovating. In 1995 they built the first automotive information website, Edmunds.com. Now they have developed an iPad app that helps automobile shoppers research their next vehicle. And can you guess who its sponsor is?

Lexus.

The iPad app is available for free from iTunes.

“A recent study found that ‘research’ is the single largest cause of stress in the car buying process — even greater than visiting the dealer,” explained Stephen Gandee, vice president of mobile technology at Edmunds.com.

So what does the iPad app do exactly? Well, if you are researching vehicles to purchase, then you can conduct that research seamlessly through your iPad. That includes researching features of the vehicles you might be interested in including in-car and in-dash technology, safety features, fuel efficiency, prices, etc. Instead of waiting until you get home to conduct that research on the Web, you can do it through your iPad on the go. In fact, you can compare vehicles while standing on the dealer lot.

Auto consumers begin their research online. Then they shop locally. Thanks to Edmunds.com, you can do your auto shopping research through your iPad with this new app that is consumer-oriented and from a source that you can trust.

Higher fuel prices are driving consumers to smaller cars. That’s what Kiplinger says in a special report to help consumers find the best values on 2012 model vehicles.

So what’s the conclusion concerning buying habits this year? In short, it’s all about improved technology, smaller vehicles, and better gas mileage. But finding the best value in new vehicles is a bit challenging for some consumers so here are a few tips to help you with your auto shopping this year.

The following added features are great value-adds for a vehicle of any size, but this year automakers are putting them into smaller economy vehicles.

• Bluetooth
• USB connections
• Extra airbags
• Sleek new designs

Rising in popularity in 2012 include vehicles with alternative powertrains and turbocharged gas engines. These include hybrid and all-electric vehicles.

Automakers are expecting a 5% increase in fuel efficiency per year up to 2025. That should give auto consumers something to look forward to.

Even gas-powered vehicles are getting in on the added value trend. You can buy vehicles this year that utilize turbocharged engine technology, and it’s expected that by 2015 the total fleet of turbocharged vehicles in most automakers’ fleets will be 20%. Vehicles with turbocharged engines get up to 20% better fuel economy.

Other features that 2012 automakers are incorporating more and more are safety features such as stability control, which is pretty much standard across all vehicles now.

To learn more about how Kiplinger has ranked 2012 vehicles for value comparison, and to help you make your next vehicle purchase, check out Kiplinger’s value comparisons.

When it comes to technological developments, whether automotive or otherwise, things don’t always happen fast. Electric vehicles are still relatively new and they haven’t caught on yet. But automakers are looking forward to the day when 10-25 percent of their global fleets will consist of electric vehicles. The question is, What’s it going to take to get us there?

Bottom line, consumers will adopt electric vehicle technology when the price matches what they’re willing to pay. That means MSRP and drive-it-off-the-lot prices.

It also means that ongoing costs and maintenance will have to meet with consumer expectations. While electric vehicles don’t require fuel expenditures, hybrid vehicles do. And all-electric vehicles will require battery charging stations in order to keep them running. That will be an expense.

Most consumers today have no basis of comparison between what it costs to fill up their vehicles to pay for their driving habits and the ongoing costs of charging their vehicles. What will battery chargers for vehicles cost? Will they require ongoing maintenance? If so, what is the expected cost of that maintenance? And what is the shelf life of the battery charging station? How much space in a car owner’s garage will it take up?

These are just a few of the questions on consumers’ minds. What about driving long distance? How often will electric vehicles require charging? There will have to be EV charging stations. Right now, there are few. Some, but few.

Nevertheless, despite consumer concerns, automakers are confident that electric vehicle technology will eventually be adopted. It is likely that hybrid vehicles will be more popular than all-electric vehicles, but the public is coming along. It’s just a matter of time before mass adoption.

Would you drive an electric vehicle that delivered 200 mpg fuel efficiency? How about if it cost you just $16,000? And what if you could fold it in half to park it in a more compact parking space? Or drive it sideways to squeeze into tight corners?

Those are all features of the Hiriko, which means “urban car” in Basque. The team that invented the vehicle at MIT call it CityCar.

CityCar is designed for driving in urban environments, which is why its top speed is only about 20 mph – and that could account, in part at least, for the great fuel efficiency rating. A total list of features of this sleek new vehicle that looks like something from beyond The Jetsons include:

• Seats only two passengers
• All electric, which means it is pro-environment
• It folds into a five foot windowed box making parking a whole lot easier
• No drive train; instead, four electric motors mount on each wheel
• The wheels connect to each corner of the chassis allowing for side maneuvers and turning in place
• No side doors; passengers enter from the front of the vehicle
• Driver controls are flexible enough to swing left and right for passenger accessibility
• Top speed = 20 mph

If some of these features seem impractical, consider that the vehicle is designed for urban driving, not highway road trips. You will still need your family sedan or SUV for long trips and highway driving, but if you work downtown and don’t want to use your city’s public transportation, the CityCar could be an affordable alternative.

Automotive technology is getting a lot more sophisticated. And I’m talking about more than just controlling your car with your iPhone.

I’m talking about your car actually reading your mind.

The manufacturer that is planning to blow your mind with this ability is Nissan. The company is partnering with École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne in Switzerland (EPFL) to develop a car that will, in a sense, know what you are thinking and help you executive your maneuver safely.

The explanation gets a little tricky. The technology is called brain-computer interface (BCI) technology.

Let’s say you want to make a lane change, but there is a vehicle in your blind spot. If you turn the wheel to make your lane change, then your vehicle will refuse the move seeing the car that is there and knowing the move you want to make is dangerous. That’s one way the BCI technology will work in drivers’ favor.

Another way this technology could work in your favor is on turns or entering the flow of traffic. Let’s say you want to enter a busy freeway. If the speed limit is 55 mph but it happens to be rush hour and traffic is moving at 30 mph, then the vehicle will adjust its speed and enter at the appropriate angle for entering the freeway.

This is incredible technology and Nissan is the first major auto manufacturer to move in this direction. But rolling out a vehicle that actually performs these smart tasks still may be a few years away.

What kind of vehicles do Generation Y auto buyers want? According to the LA Times, they want hybrid vehicles packed with technology.

Generation Y is the name given to people age 18 to 31. These younger consumers have a distinction that older automobile buyers don’t have. First, they are more environmentally conscious so they are concerned with how their driving habits affect the environment. They are more likely to be concerned with limiting their carbon footprint.

The second thing Gen Y auto buyers are concerned about is high technology. They want their automobiles to be as smart as their mobile phones.

While this presents a unique challenge to auto makers, it’s not a huge challenge. Recent technology makes both of these buying habits easier to market to.

Of course, one of the big innovators in both hybrid technology and smart in-dash technologies is the Ford Motor Co.

The Ford Fusion is a late model hybrid due to be rolled out later this year. Ford is hoping that Gen Y buyers will like it enough to take it for a test drive.

Some of the high tech in-dash toys Generation Y auto buyers like to play with include touch screens and smartphone apps. And Gen Y buyers also want to be able to buy upgrades for their auto technologies the same way they want to upgrade their smartphones.

If you fall into the Generation Y category and you are looking for a vehicle that meets your specifications, stay tuned. Auto makers are working fast to meet these demands.

Blame it all on Ford. The automaker was the first to make use of the cloud for major in-car technology and the market bought it. Since then, every major automobile manufacturer has been innovating and experimenting, looking for new ways to take the latest technology to the next level with in-car in-dash power. And many of them are succeeding.

From Ford’s Sync system to Mercedes-Benz’s mbrace system, automakers are whipping up some techno-steam. Heck, they’re even talking about having the cars “talk to each other” on the road.

Automakers and others are looking to the day when vehicles talk to each other and to the road, keeping tabs on everything around us and alerting us to threats we aren’t aware of.

In fact, it’s already happening. And even better technology is on the way.

The cloud opens up all kinds of possibilities. Apps, audio technology, GPS navigation, remote control … these are just a few of the innovative technologies we’ve already seen go to market. What will we be seeing 10 years from now? This might be a clue:

Eventually, we’ll see cloud-based apps that work on your car just like they work on your phone. And that’s where things get interesting, because apps could lead us down new roads to greater convenience and safety.

Really? Cloud-based apps that work on your car just like they work on your phone?

Let your imagination run wild because the automakers are doing just that. You can bet that the next five years of automotive technology are going to be very interesting.

Lately in the auto industry, there’s been a lot of talk about TrueCar.com. TrueCar founder, Scott Painter, wrote a letter to the auto dealer community presenting a valid case for the benefits of his service. And dealers across the nation have raised important issues about the problems too.

Is there any middle ground?

First, in case you don’t know, TrueCar.com is a third-party service that connects with certain car dealers to offer consumers a chance to lock in a “guaranteed low price” online before they go to that dealer. Dealers pay a certain fee per lead that turns into a purchase.

Based on what people are saying so far, here are the pros and cons of using TrueCar.

Pros

• Consumers can find the lowest price for a new or used car online.
• Gives consumers more confidence to buy by giving them more information.
• Cost to the dealer is based on the purchase not just a lead.
• One in every three introductions to the dealer buys a car (per Scott Painter). (See TrueCar.com Stirs Industry Debate.)

Cons

• Low price of the car cuts into dealer profits, sometimes severely so.
• Dealers believe consumers are getting too much information, which forces dealers to go lower on price than they would like.
• Privacy of consumers’ data and of dealer pricing data may be an issue. (Disclaimer: TrueCar insists it’s not.)
• Many dealers do not participate with TrueCar so will not honor the pricing consumers see there.

In previous car purchases, I’ve done my research on Edmunds.com (and other sites) and learned about possible rebates, deals and invoice pricing. I felt like that helped me greatly when negotiating with the salesperson, so I am all for having more information. In general, the higher cost a purchase is, the more information the consumer wants—and deserves.

As a consumer, I feel like the car-buying experience has been one of the worst out there. I’ve had salesmen lie to me, highlight cupholders and safety instead of performance (because I’m a woman), and refuse to tell me the price of the car while negotiating in monthly payments instead. (I would’ve bought that Toyota Celica if we could’ve talked total price.)

But I still sympathize with many dealers’ responses. In reading many articles about TrueCar, I found two thoughts consistently returning—(1) Transparency in pricing is long overdue for the auto industry. (2) Dealers have been through a very tough time with the down economy, so I can see why they’re threatened by a service they see as a “drive to the bottom.”

The question is—Is the real bottom line that dealers are afraid of change after enduring all they’ve been through the past several years? I think so.

Consumers want more ways to get fair pricing on cars. The reality is that if dealers are not giving them what they want, they will go to other third-party services for satisfaction. Who’s fault is that? Not TrueCar’s.

Smart phones are incredible. There is virtually no limit to what you can do with them these days. And that includes control your car. That is, use your iPhone as a remote control for your vehicle controls. It’s not just a fantasy any more.

All you need is an app and you can do things like shut off your car alarm, unlock your doors, and start the engine.

Auto app maker Delphi created a remote app for the Sony Reader, which makes use of a Bluetooth link from your iPhone to your key fob. Sounds complicated, doesn’t it?

The combination of technologies allows you to locate your vehicle up to a mile away. You can then get a report on your vehicle’s status. So imagine lying in your bed on a cold winter morning and being able to start your car to warm it up – before you ever get out of bed.

Go ahead and climb out of bed, take a shower, brush your teeth, get dressed, pour a cup of coffee, and head on out to the door to work. Save yourself some time and enter a car that is warm and waiting for your presence.

No, it’s not the Jetsons. It’s your driveway. In 2012.

If this makes you wonder about security, don’t worry. The remote control requires physical possession in order to operate. Don’t lose your iPhone.

Like an ATM machine, your key fob requires a PIN to authenticate ownership. So if your iPhone is programmed with your key fob’s PIN and you maintain possession of both your key fob and your iPhone, security is not an issue. We’re looking forward to improvements in this technology.