A real transition to electric vehicles will take decades and the ICE will continue for the foreseeable future. In the next 5-8 years we will see some very innovative developments in ICE design and technology: CVVD, Koenigsegg's freevalve, variable compression ratio, etc. There's also an opposing-cylinder design in development, read about it a few weeks ago. Also development of alternative fuels to keep the combustion engine combusting.