I’m less worried about the future of the car industry because, as you’ll read in this issue, manufacturers are finding exciting ways to silence the green lobby, which blames transport for the world’s climate change ills.
A sub-100g/km, and therefore VED-free, VW Golf ? Provided those figures make it through to production, as is expected, it’s a huge achievement. But in many ways it’s dwarfed by GM’s Volt, a plug-in electric car that will be a reality in the US soon, and here in three years. Power up by running a lead out of the lounge window overnight and the first 40 miles are free, after which a small petrol engine kicks off like a generator to recharge the electric motor. As the engine’s only ever on tick-over and won’t control acceleration, 100mpg is a reality. And it shouldn’t cost much more than an Astra to buy.
Assuming you do less than 40 miles a day, the only thing stopping it from being a zero-emission car is the electricity that charged it, or more to the point, how that electricity was created. After that, it’s down to the Government to incentivise these vehicles and create a network of charging points, if they can stomach the lost petrol VAT revenue – which is when we’ll see how green priorities rank against financial ones.
Factor in the great-looking new Honda Insight and the zero-emission Nissan fuel cell vehicle due in 2015 and I’m more optimistic than ever that the car is set for a massive, and eco-friendly, resurgence.
Greenpeace and its buddies should start focussing on other industries because the motor market is getting its house in order.
