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cialisation. 33 What this notion actually means is that mankind should stop using
a solution that has been known and used for decades. A disruptive technology
in rail transport is the replacement of the motion of steel wheels on rails with
train movement on a magnetic cushion, but it has not caused a breakthrough in
the market yet. Similar quantum leaps may be sought in road, water and air
transport technologies.
4.3. Environmentally clean road vehicles
Innovative trends in road transport can be divided into inventions in the field of
new generation vehicles and innovations in new generation road infrastructure.
The underlying motive of innovation is to replace the stock of currently operated
vehicles with ones that will be environmentally clean, more functional,
safer and requiring less space.
Motor vehicles of all types have a long history of development, but they are
a type of industrial product with broad prospects for further innovation. Apart
from dealing with the observed dysfunctions of road transport, innovations are
meant to improve its quality by implementing solutions that will make the vehicles
safer, more reliable, more comfortable, more environment friendly (green
car 34 , hybrid car, clean green car), less fuel-intensive, capable of running on alternative
fuels (biofuels, fuel cells), more resistant to rough roads, etc. There is not
much interest today in conceptual work aimed at replacing vehicles rolling on
wheels with ones using a different motion technology (sliding, hovering). The
technological breakthrough that will occur in this transport sector within the
next twenty years will mean the replacement (nearly completely) of motor vehicles
powered by combustion engines with electric ones.
A wide range of innovations in motor vehicles and their equipment deal
mainly with new types of propulsion and alternative fuels. Most significant examples
of specific solutions include 35 :
33 There are, in fact, a number of definitions and interpretations of the notion of “disruptive technology”,
but they are all questionable. Many engineering circles would like to see a broad application of
the term, even to the manufacturing of specialistic tools. Cf.: Disruptive technology –
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disruptive_technology; Disruptive technology – Whatis?com –
http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/0,,sid9_gci945822,00.html; Definition of Disruptive technology
– http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Disruptive+technology; What is a Disruptive
Technology? – http://www.distechs.com/index.php?page=disruptive-technology-defined and others.
34 See.: Air Powered Cars – http://www.greencar.com/features/air-powered-cars.
35 J. Burnewicz, Nowoczesna wizja transportu, op. cit., p.70.
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