CarNerve

A huge amount of money is riding on which technology will power the car of the future. While the internal combustion engine, at least in its present form, is certainly on the way out, a range of technologies is vying to become the power source of choice for the next generation of automobiles. Electric plug-ins, hybrids, diesels, and even hydrogen all have promise, but all also have potentially large downfalls.

Diesel fuel seems to be making something of a come back in recent years. Diesel is more efficient than gas and new technology makes it much easier on the environment. Diesels hold 2.6% of the market share currently, and are expected to grow to 8.0%, according to auto analysists J.D. Powers and Associates. German carmakers in particular are pushing diesel as a green alternative.

Hybrids, which have gotten all the press lately, currently hold about the same market share as diesel fuel and are expected to grow to 8.7% by 2015. Hybrid technology is maturing and new generations of hybrids could get over 100 miles per gallon.

Plug-in electric cars are the latest rage, especially as embodied in Tesla’s Roadster and Chevrolet’s soon-to-be unveiled Volt. While electrics can potentially get great gas mileage, they are not expected to gain significant market share in the near term. One obstacle is that because the vehicles are plugged in to charge, the nation’s electricity grid has to be updated to accomodate this new demand.

Despite the promise of these green technologies, analysts expect the gasoline engine to remain dominant over the next decade. Fuel is still relatively cheap, the infrastructure already exists to support gas vehicles, and the alternatives are still too costly.

While doctors may no longer make house calls, electric carmaker Tesla now does. Tesla announced that it would send technicians to the homes or offices of their vehicle owners to take care of maintenance, software upgrades and many repairs.

Tesla’s “Mobile Service Rangers” will drive to owners even if they are hundreds of miles from the nearest dealership. The upstart carmaker has only four dealerships around he country: Menlo Park, Los Angeles, Seattle and New York. But the company has sold 700 Tesla Roadsters and now has customers in every state.

Because Tesla’s electric technology is so now, the average service station can’t work on the cars. Before this service, Tesla’s customers had to ship their car to the nearest dealership if they couldn’t drive in. To minimize the hassle, Tesla rolled out its mobile tech teams.

The service won’t be free, however. Vehicle owners will pay $1 for every round-trip mile that the technicians travel from the nearest Tesla service center. The minimum charge is $100.

Of course, Tesla Roadsters cost about $109,000, so this will be small change for the company’s vehicle owners.

If you’ve been wondering when BMW will come out with a hybrid, the new BMW Vision Efficient Dynamics Concept car might give you a clue as to where the carmaker is headed. One look at this thing and you know you’re dealing with one badass hybrid. Toyota Prius this ain’t.

This full hybrid is powered by a three-cylinder turbodiesel that is connected to twin electric motors. This robot-looking car churns out 265 horsepower and 590 lb-ft of toque (I have no idea what 590 lb-ft of torque feels like, but I’m guessing it’s a lot).

Acceleration from a standstill to 100 km/h (about 62 mph) is 4.8 seconds with a top speed of 250 km/h (155 mph). This is one hybrid that drives as good as it looks. No word yet on whether this will be available on the market.

[via Jalopnik]