While sport utility vehicles (SUVs) are the most popular vehicles on the market today, two University of Alabama engineering professors predict hybrid electric vehicles will join the SUV upsurge next year.

Dr. K. Clark Midkiff, associate professor of mechanical engineering, and Dr. John M. Wiest, associate professor of chemical engineering, say that some hybrid electric vehicles are already on the market and motor companies will continue to introduce these types of vehicles in the next five years — including hybrid powered SUVs.

"As the hybrid cars are introduced by more companies, people will start to see how much more efficient they are compared to traditional SUVs' low gas mileage," Midkiff said.

Along with the growth of the hybrid cars, Midkiff said diesel engines in cars and light trucks are already on the market in Europe and will soon be seen in the United States because they are now much cleaner, quieter and virtually impossible to distinguish from their gasoline counterparts.

"Diesel engines are installed in almost 50 percent of new European automobiles," Midkiff said, "and as fuel costs rise, more American consumers will demand the combination of fuel economy and performance that only diesel engines can provide."

Midkiff also noted that the hybrid electric vehicles will lead to more developments for fuel cell vehicles. Hybrid electric vehicles are considered as the technology path from today's car to the fuel cell vehicle.

"We expect to see a significant market for fuel cell vehicles in about ten years, but this will require several technical advances to make hydrogen delivery systems and the cells themselves economically feasible," Wiest said. "We believe that hybrid fuel cell vehicles will help make the fuel cell vehicles more cost-efficient."

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