Can Big Auto Build the Car of the Future?

In WIRED, Jason Fagone describes a car competition that led to new car model that achieved 207 mpg, using EPA standard test procedures.  But, he argues, even “with new government targets looming … the automakers are still resisting radical change…They’re not rethinking the automobile from scratch, from the ground up, like the successful prize teams did. And with a few exceptions,…the automakers are also failing to make significant investments in bringing down the cost of advanced composite materials that are light, strong, and durable. One Nissan executive recently “quipped” to Green Car Reports that the company doesn’t want to make cars out of carbon fiber because it’s too durable: “We don’t need such a material,” the executive said. “That means we cannot sell a new car in 30 years.”