There is no doubt in my mind that the automobile as we know it must change. The last automaker you'd expect to embrace this outlook is Britain's Morgan, which manufactures delectable sports cars that remind us of the 1930's. Yet Morgan accepted change as necessary and therefore developed the LIFECar concept. Unveiled at Geneva, the hydrogen-powered Morgan has a traditional sports car silhouette: close to the ground, with a long hood, rounded rear glass, and upright tail. But... it has a fuel cell and electric motor system providing the power. The LIFECar concept, according to Morgan, "takes a fresh look at transport, offering as revolutionary an approach to personal freedom as did the brilliant Morgan 3-Wheeler introduced by HFS Morgan nearly 100 years ago."

Quick bursts of power are delivered by a bank of ultra-capacitors, capable of "shuffling up to 1000 amps back and forth," according to Morgan, to deliver the power needed for peak acceleration and to get the most effective energy storage from regenerative braking. The LIFECar uses four electric motor/generators, each directly connected to its respective drive wheel. It employs a sophisticated management system, developed by England's Cranfield University, that allows a regenerative braking action of up to 0.7g at higher speeds while providing smooth hydraulic brake action at low speed. Morgan says that the LIFECar will deliver a top speed of 80 to 85 miles per hour, a 0-62 mph acceleration time of less than seven seconds, and a 250-mile range on a tank of hydrogen. Thanks to forward thinkers like Morgan, the future for sports car drivers remains bright.