Abstract
For the auto industry, predictions have been as reliable as a moth-eaten Yugo: Global oil prices are at a five-year low, sales of pickup trucks and SUVs are booming, and purchases of gas-electric hybrids have fallen. Yet automakers still face a monumental challenge to boost fleetwide fuel economy: In the United States, they must reach 4.3 liters per 100 kilometers (54.5 miles per gallon) by 2025, from approximately 7.6 L/100 km today. In the European Union, meanwhile, automakers face other headwinds, flowing from a requirement to cut carbon emissions and fuel consumption, even as sales remain mired in a vicious slump. This year's Top 10 Tech Cars reflects on the effects of those competing demands. Consider the Tesla Model S: Only three years ago this electric sedan dazzled pundits, who predicted that Tesla would revolutionize automobiles. But any such revolution depended on a lower-price follow-up-the Model X crossover-which has been delayed again. And while long-range electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids remain very much in play, the world is still waiting for one of them to go beyond a mere plaything of the wealthy to become the Model T of its age.
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