If only the futurists of the 1940s and 50s could see us now-they'd likely be a tad disappointed.
That's because many of them had us living on the moon, eating meals in pillsized form, and commuting to and from work with a jet pack strapped to our backs.
Sadly, the moon is a place manned landings were abandoned decades ago, we still sit down at the dining table and chow down on ever-increasing portions, and that commute is still done on the ground.
But the manner we are doing that daily drive is changing gradually as more manufacturers get on board with their "green" rides.
One of the latest comes from Munich's blue and white rondel (BMW) which will soon be rolling out its zero emission, i3.
Originally dubbed the Mega City Vehicle, the somewhat boxy, five-door people carrier with nifty suicide doors is electric-powered and has a range of about 200 km between charges. That, for the average commuter, is enough to make the trip from your front
doorstep to work and back again without having to find more "juice" to keep the electric motor running.
But if you do need to go that extra mile, BMW offers an optional Range Extender that can boost the distance to 340 km by using a small combustion engine that drives an electric generator to charge the lithium-ion, high-voltage battery which is sandwiched into a layer in the floor of the cabin.
Charging time using a regular cable is a lengthy 15 hours. But that can be dramatically reduced to under three hours - for an 80 per cent charge - when using BMW's i Charging Station, a home-based unit that offers a maximum charging power of 7.2kW.
While all of those attributes are not really big news to those close followers of electric and hybrid vehicles - the Chevrolet Volt has decent range, and Tesla's Model S boasts not only zero emissions and performance but a stylish design that beats both BMW and GM - what is ground-breaking about BMW's version is its commitment to using sustainable and recycled materials.
For example, the i3's door panels use materials from the cotton family, and a quarter of the car's weight from plastic components for the interior is derived from recycled or renewable resources.
But one of the biggest changes comes from BMW's use of carbon for the passenger cell.
That allows the i3 to be quite lightweight since carbon is about half the weight of steel, and 30 per cent lighter than aluminium.
BMW says that quite neatly offsets the additional weight of the battery.
All told, the package boasts some pretty decent performance numbers, thanks to the fact electric motors deliver full torque immediately, unlike traditional combustion engines.
So, expect zero to 100 km/h times around 7.2 to 7.9 seconds.
