The North American International Auto Show was this week ~ our chance to peek into the not-too-distant future of car design. I have to say a lot of it brings to mind a mix between the original Tron cycle and the concept Lexus from Minority Report. Electric cars are THE thing, since we’re not quite at the flying car stage (which I think is good … if sci fi has taught us anything, it’s that flying cars = dystopic or post-apocalyptic future, so really our lack of flying cars means more happiness and prosperity. Yay?). Let’s take a look at some of the stand-out concept cars introduced to the world this week!

The sexiest by far is the Audi E-Tron concept! It’s light weight with two electric motors in addition to looking pretty awesome.

The Toyota Ft-CH concept is a compact hybrid that I can totally imagine tooling around in to buy my space groceries. The idea is to have a hybrid more affordable than the Prius. Though it kind of makes me think of the pod cars on Logan’s Run.

The VW Compact Coupe concept, a sport hybrid. This particular picture totally makes me smile because of the men doing jazz hands around the car. But! Jazz hands aside, it’s pretty exciting that carmakers are thinking of how to get performance and good fuel economy out of the same car.

American carmakers made their mark this year, too! The GMC Granite concept is definitely the future’s take on the SUV ~ slicker, smaller, and faster.

I totally have a weakness for Mini! The Beachcomber concept … I can see myself roaming the vast desert/gathering my genetically-enhanced friends for some all-wheel-drive chases/intergalactic volleyball games. (My imagination MAY have gotten the best of me on this one …)

Though not a part of the auto show, the Aptera has been hovering around as a 300 mpg super-aerodynamic car of the future for a few years now. I’ll believe it when I see it, but so far nothing has come closer to the future the Jetsons promised us.