Hi Guiseppe,

just for the fun, try Youtube and see what Lars Thomsen has to say about the topic.

I'm sorry but this is in German only.

thanks Martin, but it's not what I'm actually looking for. I rather need references with updated data on the topic.

Dear Guiseppe,

then here is one fact for your list, coming from the IAA Nutzfahrzeuge held in Germany in September/October 2014.

According to the bus manufacturer EBUSCO, the Netherlands will ban all combustion driven passenger buses from their cities in 2020 making in-city public transportation a zero emission business.

Another fact from my private life:

My all-electric Golf Citystromer buit 1995 that I just recently upgraded to Li-Ion Batteries  ( see www.evalbum.com/1271 ) now consumes about 15kWh/100km, representing the energetic content of 1.2L Diesel or 1.5L gasoline.

My prediction: Any modern car less efficient than 20-25kWh/100km will not survive on the market as it is growing to become too expensive for the owner.

I recommended Lars Thomsen to you because if he is right - and I assume he is - then all the discussions about the parameters you ask for is obsolete.

According to him, by 2017 the combustion engine will be more expensive than electric drive, making this sort of machine and all the correlated topics obsolete.

His presentations also hold the answer to all your questions :-)

This trend is not driven by regulations but by economy of scale.

Companies like Tesla Motors, LG, Samsung, Google and Apple will not try to reinvent the combustion engine - they will simply build electric vehicles, making all those gas-guzzlers look bad, smell bad and expensive :-)

His presentation still hold the answer to all the questions you ask. Trends, tendencies, demands - all discussed in an entertaining, almost enlightening way.

www.evalbum.com/1271

Dear Guiseppe,

The attention can be focussed on state of automobile sector  in many ways like i) improvement of thermal efficinecy of engine with new generation of engines, ii) control of pollutants from the exhaust of the engine particularly emission control and standards  iii) improvement in aerodynamic efficiecy , iv) alternaive fuel technology, v) hybrid vehicles, v1) stratified engines vii) engine hardware viii) friction, lubricants and coolants, ix) multifuel engines,  x) Safety and crash analysis  etc. I agree with the views expressed by Dr. Martin regarding emission standards.  Each topic is some thing like one subject.     

IEA World Energy Outlook

"A review of current automotive battery technology and future prospects" Heide Budde-Meiwes, Julia Drillkens, Benedikt Lunz, Jens Muennix, Susanne Rothgang, Julia Kowal and Dirk Uwe Sauer.  J Automobile Engineering 227 (5) 761-776.

Hope this paper will help you in searching of current trends or you can go to the references of this paper which is quite useful way to find data relevant to the paper.