American high school students think that
gasoline-powered automobiles and compact discs will be yesterday’s news in ten years, according to a survey released
Wednesday.
The annual Lemelson-MIT Invention Index survey, which assesses Americans’ attitudes toward
invention and innovation, found that a third of teens expect that gasoline-powered cars will be obsolete by 2015.
Overall, the study showed the next wave of car buyers to be very comfortable with rapid changes in technology,
“Perhaps more than any preceding generation,” according to Lemelson-MIT program director Merton Flemings.
While it’s probably premature to predict the demise of gasoline powerplants, the survey results certainly show
that the next generation of car buyers will be ready and waiting for a viable alternative.
Automakers take
note, if your competition has a viable and affordable alternative fuel vehicle in the 2010-2015 timeframe and you
don’t, expect to lose the youngest segment of the market.