The Motor Report Auto News Blog

The automotive landscape is always changing and ten years from now will be very different from what we know today. Sharing the roads with Hybrids is the norm now, over the next decade we will at the very least be sharing our local city streets with full electric cars.

In an interview with German publication Welt am Sonntag, Audi’s head honcho Rupert Stadler said that diesels and battery technology will dominate the next decade with zero emissions cars to become a feature within ten years – and Audi are set for their share of the action.

“By then we will offer cars without exhaust emissions. Electric cars offer great opportunities, which we have already seized on,” said Stadler.

Audi are currently working on hybrid derived technologies such as stop-start for their conventional products. Weight reduction is high on the agenda as well as innovations for improving aerodynamics such as grille covers – covers that automatically close over the grille to improve frontal aerodynamics.

But Audi are a little slow off the mark, with Norwegian firm TH!NK set to release a full production version of their all electric TH!NK city car on the North American market in 2008. Then of course we have GM and their much vaunted Volt, also expected around the close of this decade.