This week is number 26 of 52, making it the half way point in our year. The world is in a less than healthy state at the moment, what with the BP oil spill, flooding in Southern China, volcanos in Iceland, earth quakes in Haiti and so on.
When looking at these disasters, it’s easy for environmentalists to point fingers at the automobile, especially now since the manufacturers have begun providing the exact grams per kilometer of C02 each of their models produce. The politicians are quick to agree and, as a way to increase their income, we now find emissions taxes being applied to cars around the world. And don’t think our government hasn’t caught on to this, by September South African’s will be paying a carbon tax on each new car sold.
But change has got to start somewhere and the motor manufacturers are leading the charge to a large extent. Fuel efficiency through hybrid and electric powered vehicles is on the increase and efficiency measures are being introduced on many models. A few years ago those sensitive to the environment had the choice of driving a Toyota Prius and that was it.
Now, however, Honda is about to introduce the first hybrid powered sports coupe to South Africa, in the form of the CR-Z. BMW have their ‘Efficient Dynamics’ program, which sees the use of low rolling resistance tyres and brake energy regeneration amongst other efficiency features employed to reduce fuel consumption and resulting emissions. Audi has just announced an ‘Efficiency’ version of their A4 sedan, which the company claims requires just 4.6 l/100km and will be exempt from the carbon tax when it’s introduced later this year, thanks to emissions of just 119 g/km of C02.
So where does this leave us, or rather where are we headed? Carbon taxing is a great way for governments to make money while being seen to effect climate change. Of course, reducing emissions is all important, but at the same time nothing different is really being done and logic dictates that reducing emissions is simply prolonging the inevitable. There are countless methods for harnessing clean energy, but with so much money tied up in people, infrastructure, energy contracts, investment deals and so on, the change to cleaner alternatives could be slow.
However, there is hope, but for motoring enthusiasts like myself it’s bitter sweet. R&D and investment is being poured into electric vehicles (EVs) at the moment and just about all manufacturers have an EV program or at least are associated with one. From Tata with its budget Nano EV concept, to Audi with their R8 inspired e-tron, there is a real possibility that by 2030 we could all be driving EVs. I say bitter sweet, because the sound of a Lamborghini V10 in full song is the automotive equivalent of heroin in my book and the thought of replacing that with a deafening silence gives me a headache.
My sensibilities prevail though, or perhaps it’s just my own form of psychological pain killer, when I think that there is no way Porsche, Ferrari, Lamborghini or any other manufacturer with a brand built on passion, excitement and racing heritage, will ever compromise its core values by offering a car as silent as midnight in the Karoo, or whose ad campaign includes images of flowers gently flowing from a set of quad-exhausts as it passes through artificially green fields.
Perhaps BP’s oil disaster will prove to be the catalyst that will drive the change to alternative fuels. Perhaps cars of the future will be powered by a mixture of Buffalo grass and coconut oil, the reaction of which might sound like a high-revving V16 and who knows, the exhaust gasses could smell like basil pesto. The point is that change brings progress and in the motoring world this must translate to improved efficiency on a mass scale, but also enhance the thrill of driving that so many of us enjoy and the supercar dream that we all have.
Yes, I want the world to have its automotive cake an eat it and there’s no reason why we cant. Henry Ford brought cars to the masses and Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic is about to do the same with flights into space. Yes, it’s time for change, but as I sit in my office and watch the early morning sun begin to peak over the hills, perhaps the biggest change of all needs to be the preservation of our planet over those of our profits.
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