Some of the changes in automobile technology are impressive.
They have engines that turn off whenever your car is idle, and then they start back up the second you let go of the break.
They’re meant to aid in gas mileage, especially on mid sized cars like crossovers which aren’t as inherently efficient as sedans. I have driven these cars a handful of times when I needed to rent a vehicle during my travels, but I’m not much of a fan. I don’t like the delay between the moment you hit the gas and the point at which the engine starts and the wheels start to turn. When you’re used to immediate acceleration, it can be a tiny bit of an annoyance. I’d much rather have a hybrid vehicle with an engine that can run entirely on electricity with gas as a backup fuel source. These are easily the cheapest cars to drive on the road, assuming you live in an area with charging stations for electric cars near your home and job. As excited as I am about these advances in automobile technology, right now I’m fascinated more by new HVAC components like my low temperature heat pump. Heat pumps harvest ambient heat in outdoor air and transfer it indoors without ever needing to combust fuel or power heating coils. Since there is always potential energy in outdoor air as long as you don’t reach absolute zero, you can easily transfer that energy indoors by reversing the refrigeration cycle on a regular air conditioner. Imagine having the hot condenser unit indoors while running an evaporator coil in ambient air during a cold snap. The coolant coming indoors will be hot and you can heat your house with the warmth coming off the hot compressor.