Cars. Enjoy ‘em while they last. The European Commission will soon take all the fun out of them.
From 2020 onward, any newly produced car is allowed to release a maximum of 95 grams per kilometre, equal to 152 grams per mile. To give you an indication, only the smallest cars on the roads nowadays are able to achieve such figures. Think Peugeot 107/Toyota Aygo/Citroen C1, Volkswagen Polo Bluemotion and Fiat Punto 1.3 diesel. I’m sure there’ll be one or two Fiat 500 motorisations as well.
Of course, the one obvious bigger car to also already satisfy that requirement is the Toyota Prius. But everybody knows that isn’t half as efficient as it’s claimed to be, provided you’ve at least got a foot to wield the accelerator pedal with. And NEVER run it on the highway.
I’m not sure how far engineers can still push the envelope on conventional combustion cars, but I doubt something as big and practical as, say, a Renault Espace will ever run efficient enough for 95 gr/km. I sincerely hope the contrary though, because I’d be brutally annoyed when I’ll have to take some of my future kids on vacation in an Aygo, while my lovely partner in life takes the rest of ‘em in her 107.
I also hope that carmakers aren’t all going to be “smart” and run all cars on electricity. Unless the battery packs are massive (and so then would be the cars, which is bad for aerodynamics and rolling friction), they are never going to get you far. I’d hate to have to buy plane tickets for a horde of kids to be able to go on a holiday. Moreover, and this is even more important, as long as the European Commission isn’t so strict on enforcing cleaner ways to produce electricity, electric cars are pretty pointless. Counterproductive even.
So, 95 grams per kilometre. I don’t think V8’s will be able to satisfy that either. Unless, perhaps, manufacturers equip them with cylinder deactivation for seven out of eight cylinders when cruising. They would run beautifully efficient in the official EU test cycle. But not when flooring it!
Perhaps that’s what the fun and speed loving motorist should hope for: that stupid regulations will still allow for smart ways around them!
