Audi dynamic steering

With its harmonic drive gearing—a compact, three-piece gearset previously used in lunar rovers—the 2009 Audi A4 modifies the steering ratio in response to the car’s speed. When you’re parking, one turn of the wheel covers the full range of motion. At highway speeds, the same range takes four turns. The system can also detect any potentially dangerous motion and help you correct it; if electronic sensors determine that you’re going too wide into a sharp turn, they will tighten up the steering ratio so you can get back on course with a smaller movement of the wheel. The system works three times as fast as other electronic stabilization systems. audi.com

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BMW speed limiter display on 7 series

Combining images of signs taken by a camera on the rearview mirror with navigation-system data about your route, the latest European BMW 7 Series figures out your current speed limit and displays it on the instrument cluster and projects it on the windshield. The technology, developed with Siemens VDO, could arrive in the U.S. in the next year or two. bmw.com

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Ford cap-less fuel technology

Concerns about fuel theft and spillage have made the gas cap a standard feature. Ford replaces it with a spring-loaded interior lid that closes off if anyone tries to put a nonstandard fuel-pump nozzle in the hole. The system, which rolled out this year, seals tighter than a typical fuel cap, too, reducing evaporative emissions. ford.com

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Honda first hydrogen production car FCX clarity

Highways filled with hydrogen cars are still decades away, but that doesn’t diminish the achievement of rolling the first fuel-cell car off a mass-production line. To open up interior space, Honda developed its own fuel cell, a 100-kilowatt stack that packs substantially more energy into a 65 percent smaller space than other designs and squeezes neatly into the tunnel between the front seats. And by working through several generations of concept cars, Honda has gotten the once-experimental FCX to look and drive just like a gas-powered car. It even has a 280-mile range. The big difference: Nothing comes out of the tailpipe but water vapor. Three-year lease for $600 a month; honda.com

How It Works
Inside the fuel cell:
[1] Hydrogen and air flow from top to bottom in Honda’s fuel cell through wave-shaped channels [2]. Along the way, an electrolyte surface transforms the hydrogen into water and electrons. The cooling system [3] runs horizontally through the channels to keep the cell from overheating.

Beyond gasoline
The 45.7-gallon tank in the rear of the car stores compressed hydrogen, which the fuel cell between the front seats converts into electricity and water.

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