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In the literature, many foresight methods have been used to cope with uncertainty concerning the future demand for electric, hydrogen, and plug-in hybrid vehicles. As a result, different scenarios and roadmap have been provided, often with contrasting outcomes. This paper is a short review of the existing literature aiming to summarize the main results obtained so far, describing the diverse ranges of possible development of these alternative vehicles over the next 40 years. This paper then addresses some key questions through the answers provided by the literature: what are the drivers of an alternative vehicles economy? What are the principal barriers and the strategic goals? When will an economy of alternative vehicles emerge? What does an alternative vehicle economy attain?

The introduction of alternative powertrain technologies has brought increased design freedom in spaces within a vehicle that were previously constrained by traditional ones. Such freedom will affect the overall architecture and appearance of future alternative cars. However, these vehicles require the design, development, and integration of new specific components that are not relevant in conventional combustiondriven cars. This paper is a short review of challenges and methodological approaches regarding the design for changeability in future alternative vehicle production and design, and in particular, of methods coping with interchangeability. Modularity is seen as an appealing design approach that supports vehicle manufacturers for a wider spectrum of different interchangeable technologies, involving both production processes and products. The concepts of modularity in production, modularity in design, modularity in use, and technical modularity are here presented.

The introduction of alternative powertrain technologies has brought increased design freedom in spaces within a vehicle that were previously constrained by traditional ones. Such freedom will affect the overall architecture and appearance of future alternative cars. However, these vehicles require the design, development, and integration of new specific components that are not relevant in conventional combustiondriven cars. This paper is a short review of challenges and methodological approaches regarding the design for changeability in future alternative vehicle production and design, and in particular, of methods coping with interchangeability. Modularity is seen as an appealing design approach that supports vehicle manufacturers for a wider spectrum of different interchangeable technologies, involving both production processes and products. The concepts of modularity in production, modularity in design, modularity in use, and technical modularity are here presented.