With a slumping industry overall, car companies are doing everything they can to gain a competitive advantage. The next decade promises to be one of the most innovative periods ever in terms of new technologies being made available to consumer vehicles. BMW has announced that they are developing a thermoelectric generator utilizing radioactive heat collecting technology. The generator, that was originally intended to power space satellites, is supposed to help reduce fuel consumption and carbon emissions by trapping electricity produced from heat coming out of the vehicles exhaust pipe. Most internal combustion engines loose about 30 percent of their energy through exhaust heat and BMW is predicting a minimum 5 percent increase in fuel efficiency. The thermoelectric generator is expected be used in either hybrids or electric cars to aid in propelling the cars. Look for this new feature at BMW dealerships sometime in the next few years!
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