Cars for the future

Power editor, Mark Venables

Road transport accounts for 80 per cent of transport emissions and, as such, is an area that needs urgent attention. But there appears to be cure in sight. The greens may preach about greater use of bikes and indeed our feet but unless you live in a large city, with its associated public transport infrastructure and proximity to facilities that is a non-starter.

Situated as I am on a new urban sprawl amidst the Bedfordshire countryside and bereft of public transport options, a car is almost a necessity. So what are the options – first hydrogen, them hybrids and more latterly biofuels were the panacea that governments sought, but all have fallen well short of the mark. The latest star pupil is the electric car, but that too is likely to run out of steam, or more aptly electric power, before the finishing line.

The hydrogen fuel cell car offers significant, but still distant, prospects. Among the key challenges are its high cost per unit of energy and the lack of a supply of renewable hydrogen, and that is before you come to the chicken and egg quandary of supplying a refuelling infrastructure and a range of affordable vehicles.

You only have to look at the success, or more correctly the lack of success, for the hybrid to see what troubles each new technology faces. Despite its proven technology, the take up has been lacklustre as consumers have shown reluctance to foot the bill for being green – adoption of hybrids is still some way short of 0.5 per cent.

In my opinion, the way forward will be to take several steps back. Developments of modern vehicle platforms offer over 50 per cent fuel economy savings, but again all at a huge cost. Improvements in aerodynamics, use of lightweight materials, engine and transmission developments, and further hybridisation, particularly for diesels, will all add up to excellent savings, but at an estimated cost of $6,000 per car. So, again, will we pay the extra? Probably not.

For now the options are few. Small, lightweight, efficient and cheap vehicles such as the Nano, diesel hybrids like the Citroen C4, and more efficient family cars in the vein of the Ford Econetic, with its excellent 115g/km emission figure.

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