Should Motorists Worry About the Future?

 


At times the future of the car and the motorist can seem scary. The oil will one day run out and there are those in the media and online who try to convince us that the electric car is some sort of satanic contraption whilst those aforementioned folks and governments also ignore other solutions to the issues of going net zero and powering the cars of the future.

But, those who read and write about cars know that the future is actually pretty good and that the present day mirrors that of the very early days of the car when there were multiple choices for what powered cars, in the old days, it was petrol, steam and electric. Now it’s, electric, hydrogen and synthetic fuels. Both me and James May agree that BEV’s (battery electric vehicles) are a stop gap solution, in that, for now they are the closest thing to the solution that will solve the issue of cars and pollution, much like hybrid cars did in the 2000s and early 2010s prior to the likes of Tesla and Renault EV’s taking off, hence why governments and big manufacturers are pushing them so much. Even though issues over longevity, charging infrastructure and how to recycle the batteries still haven’t been fully worked out yet. Overall, I think there is still a place for electric cars in the future though I believe they’d more work as small city cars or hypercars where issues like range or battery life won’t be as big of an issue since they’ll only do small miles or occasional trips.

Hydrogen technology has been around since the early 90s but the issue over storage still hasn’t been cracked yet and there is little investment or interest from those in power, thankfully, BMW is starting to invest in the technology again so there is some hope there. The main benefit of hydrogen is that instead of needing big batteries, the car is run on hydrogen that can be filled up at a conventional petrol station so that’s another point in its favour. Other benefits are that the cars weigh a lot less since they don’t need huge batteries to power them, the only byproduct is water and fuel cells last roughly 5-10 years, though Toyota state that the fuel cell in the Mirai lasts the lifetime of the car, however long/short that is. The main issue is that there is so little awareness or investment outside of a couple of manufactures especially since only 6 hydrogen filling stations are open to the public.

Synthetic fuels are the ideal solution since the current infrastructure simply needs to be cleaned out and synthetic fuels can simply be poured in, and we can carry on as normal. Synthetic fuels have already been trialled at Goodwood and are definitely promising especially for the classic car community. The only issue is making enough and getting it to forecourts. You need a lot of space to make synthetic fuels hence why most are in Chile, though there are plans to set up facilities over here. What’s more, considering that eventually there will be loads of oil refineries with nothing to refine one day, I say use those to make the fuel. Synthetic fuels are still in their infancy though they are making progress with some planning to expand with more filling stations and facilities in the near future.

But what about other aspects of motoring, road pricing, battery fires and will we be forced out of our cars? Well, there are no plans for road pricing anywhere in the country contrary to the Conservative disinformation machine, battery fires are heavily exaggerated by EV haters online and considering all bills need to get royal assent and have to pass so many processes to be passed, the kind of bill that would ban us from cars could never be passed. 

I hope that by reading this I have put some of your potential fears about the future of motoring to rest. But what do I think will power cars in the future? Well, unless we start spreading the word that there are alternative choices I believe BEV’s will be the main choice for motorists with synthetic fuels likely being used exclusively for events and classics due to a lack of government investment/interest. But who knows, the future is not written after all. 

Here are some videos and articles if you’re interested in learning more about the topics covered.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ny7XI0O_u3Q

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5U4jI6xb6jg&t=1977s

https://www.classicandsportscar.com/features/sustainable-fuels-greener-future-classic-cars

https://bylinetimes.com/2024/04/16/conservatives-accused-of-breaking-electoral-law-with-fake-sadiq-khan-driving-charge-notices/

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