The top 10 new car innovations that changed motoring in 2023

The process by which the fuel is made is also quite simple, using a combination of CO2 filters, wind turbines and an electrolyser.

How to make fuel out of fresh air

Sustainable tyres in production

Soybean oil, rice husks and plastic bottles: these aren't materials that you would expect a tyre to be made from, but Goodyear has found a way to make it work.

Made of 90% sustainable material, the firm's demonstration tyre replaces petroleum-based ingredients for plant-based oil, pyrolysis oil, soybean oil and, tellingly, CO2.

The resins involved in production are no longer petroleum-based, switching to more environmentally friendly pine resin.

Much still needs to be done to put the tyre into production, but it might not be that far away.

At the beginning of 2022, Goodyear announced success in constructing rubber made of 70% sustainable materials, and that has gone into production this year.

Sustainable tyres pass a new milestone

EV solar panels

Solar panels on an electric car might not be a new idea (even those as obscure as the Fisker Karma dabbled in battery regeneration via the sun's rays), but the tech has never been taken seriously - until now.

German tuner ABT has developed panels to sit on slab-sided vehicles like the Volkswagen ID Buzz you see above. When fitted, ABT's panels generate 0.6kW of energy and give the Buzz an additional estimated range of 1860 miles each year.

Side panels are also under development, which will hopefully take the total energy generation to 1kW.

And it's not just ABT: the new Toyota Prius has the option of solar panels that can add up to 776 miles of range per year.

In fact, such is the spiralling appeal of this tech that Sono, a manufacturer of solar panels for EVs, has signed a purchase order with "one of the 10 largest (car makers) in the world". Watch this space!

How EVs can still make use of solar panels

Ammonia combustion engine

‘Sustainable fuel’ has been one of the industry’s favourite phrases over the past year, as manufacturers look for ways to decarbonise the existing fleet of petrol and diesel cars.

Chinese firm GAC and Toyota have worked together to develop one of the more novel solutions: burning carbon-free ammonia.

Ammonia is comprised of one part nitrogen to three parts hydrogen, which means an ammonia combustion engine is effectively a hydrogen combustion engine.

As well as being carbon-neutral, it’s also much easier to transport than pure hydrogen, as it liquefies under relatively low pressures: 7.5 bar, versus the 750 bar used to store hydrogen in an FCEV car’s fuel cell.

Only time will tell whether ammonia combustion will take off, but the more solutions to decarbonising the ICE cars already on the road, the better. After all, there are around 1.3 billion of them out there, according to S&P Global Mobility.

Is ammonia the key to cutting CO2?

Green brake caliper

As the industry pivots to electric cars, concerns have been raised about how their weight affects particulate emissions from brakes and tyres. German firm Continental is addressing this with its new ‘green caliper’.

It reduces the residual brake torque – the force between the brake pads and disc after a driver has come off the brake pedal – to less than 0.2lb ft. This increases energy efficiency and in turn reduces emissions of particulate matter, as less braking is done by the discs and pads.

Combined with the regenerative braking provided by an electric motor, the green caliper makes brakes 5kg lighter per corner. This saving further improves an EV’s overall energy efficiency – therefore range – as well as its ride and handling.

How brake tech is advancing ahead of Euro 7

Even more rigid carbonfibre

Carbonfibre has for a long time been the pinnacle of material engineering in the automotive sphere, but Nawa Technologies’ Nawastitch method takes rigidity to new heights.

It uses a thin film-like layer of carbon nanotubes, which is used to reinforce the glue layers in conventional carbonfibre. This is said to deliver a 900% improvement in impact resistance, while cutting weight by 20-30%.

Nawastitch is already in use for sports bicycle wheels and could soon be used for EV battery casings and inside hydrogen fuel cells.

How carbon tubes can slash emissions

Improved EV battery swapping

Chinese electric car maker Nio hosts a series of battery-swapping stations in its home country, capable of swapping a depleted EV battery for a fully charged one in minutes.

The major benefit, of course, is that a battery can be removed and replaced more quickly than even the most advanced EVs can be replenished by a rapid charger.

Nio’s major advancement this year was the launch of its third-generation swap station.

It’s capable of storing 21 batteries: sufficient for 408 swaps per day – a 30% improvement on the previous-generation station. And it takes just 2min 30sec to do so – quicker than a petrol pump can fill an ICE car.

How do Nio's battery swapping stations work?

Smarter powertrain packaging

Nissan has revamped its powertrain development process, enabling it to run e-Power hybrid powertrains and electric drivetrains down the same production lines.

There are two approaches: three-in-one for battery-electric cars and five-in-one for use in e-Power hybrids.