What advances in car and public engineering are not being developed?

Question

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/?qid=20060616165836AACihbL&pa=FYd1D2bwHTHwIbpjFOg4QFp3KB.11MJTlMdMKY07aIUhCw--

Rotary internal combustion engines, injection carburateurs, and so forth, what advances in technology are being bought up and sat on by big car industries instead of implemented? How would we design a super car for driving around on mars, what technologies would a mars rover use?

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&q=rotary+internal+combustion+engine&btnG=Search
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&q=400+miles+to+the+gallon&btnG=Search

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miles_per_gallon

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&q=300+miles+to+the+gallon&btnG=Search

http://www.google.com/search?q=advanced+carburatuer&hl=en&lr=&filter=0

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&q=intentional+obsolescence&btnG=Search
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&q=intentional+archaicness&btnG=Search

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archaic

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hovercraft

Answer 1

Aloha,
I believe that a lot of good technical patents on vehicles which use less or no gasoline are being kept from the public by the gasoline companies, even though global warming is destroying the planet. This is because the gasoline and oil companies stand to lose a lot of money because of new technology, and they are greedy, greedy, greedy.

Answer 2

I'm not fond of conspiracy theories like this one, because like most conspiracy theories, they really don't make any sense.

Any automaker who had a new technology (like say Toyota's Prius hybrid) would use it immediately to bludgeon the competition into bankruptcy.

If an automaker has not introduced some new tech, it's because it doesn't work well enough or isn't cost effective.

An automaker would kill to have a car getting 60 mpg right now. It makes no sense whatsover to withold such a technology. Automakers and oil companies aren't "friends". More mpg means that people will drive more, just like they always have and always will, if gas is affordable. If anything, oil companies would LOVE a car with 60 mpg---they could raise the price of fuel and none of us would complain, because our gas bills would still be lower than before.

Answer 3

I have a theory that if you have a car with solarpanels at the top for daytime running and also an alternator so when you drive the car, it also recharges the battery pack, it would be great.