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The first decade of the new millennium has given us some fantastic new vehicle technologies. Here’s a few of my favorites. Feel free to add your own.

1. Ford Sync –Sync has revolutionized in-vehicle communications, leaving every other automaker scrambling to develop something similar. Sync’s main feature is using voice commands to control a cellphone and an mp3 player. On some Ford, Mercury and Lincoln vehicles, it also can control everything from cabin temperature to the radio as well.

2. Direct injection — First scene on diesels, direct injection first came to gas engines in the U.S. in the Isuzu Axiom. The system injects gasoline at high pressure directly into the cylinder, rather than the intake manifold. This allows engineers to precisely control the spray pattern and allows for better atomization of the fuel. It also has a cooling effect on the cylinder. The benefit is better efficiency resulting in better power and fuel economy.

3. Electronic stability control — This system, which was first scene on some Mercedes and BMWs in 1997, started appearing on mainstream cars in the 2000s. Csaba Csere, then the executive editor of Car and Driver, called ESC the greatest advance in safety since seatbelts. It is so revolutionary, stability control will become mandatory on cars sold in the U.S. in 2012.

4. Hybrid drive systems — While many automakers have scoffed at hybrid systems because the benefits hardly outweight the cost, the public has taken to them and even demanded them. Toyota first introduced hybrids in the late ’90s, but the technology really took off in this decade as fuel prices have gone up. But possibly the most important contribution from hybrid vehicles is leading auto companies to develop …

5. Plug-in hybrid powertrains – When Toyota first introduced its Prius hybrid, it resisted developing a version that could be plugged into an electrical outlet because it wanted do distance itself from electric cars which had a bad reputation for poor range. That didn’t stop tinkerers from adding battery packs and other gizmos to their Priuses, allowing them to run for longer periods of time and at higher speeds on battery power alone. Some of the auto companies took noticed and started work on …

2011 Chevrolet Volt

6. Extended-range electric vehicles — General Motors is set to release the much-anticipated Chevrolet Volt starting in late 2010. GM says the Volt will be able to travel up to 40 miles on battery power alone after a full charge. That will allow most people to drive their entire daily commute on just battery power. When more range is needed — say for a trip up north — a gasoline engine will kick in, powering the electric motors that motivate the Volt, giving it the range of a typical conventional car. Of course EREVs wouldn’t be possible without the latest in battery development …

7. Lithium-ion batteries — Lithium-ion batteries have actually become fairly common in small-scale applications such as cellphones, laptop computers and cordless tools. But scaling that technology up to the size needed to power a car has taken a little longer. Current lithium-ion technology is a wet slurry chemical solution, but battery chemists are currently working on solid-state lithium batteries.