EUGENE HARKINS
Battery electric vehicles represent an exciting next-chapter in the automotive story, but we shouldn’t be fooled into thinking there’s only one solution to sustainable motoring — the work Porsche is currently engaged in (developing synthetic fuels for use in new and existing internal combustion engines) proves otherwise...
As a driving enthusiast, I own vehicles engineered to outlast my lifetime. In my garage resides a 2008 Cayman, a 2012 991-generation 911 and a 2008 Volkswagen Golf 1.4 TSI fast approaching 250k miles. It’s a superb car, petrolpowered, and delivers close to 50mpg.
It’s my good fortune to oversee companies supplying the automotive sector with parts (including British Heritage brakes) designed to keep classic cars on the road, as well as Cape International, a bespoke sports car restoration business turning out first-class air-cooled 911 builds. In an era where there’s huge focus on the switch to battery electric powertrains, however, I am reminded of the first-hand experience I have of sudden changes in government policy negatively impacting businesses with invested capital unable to realise returns due to these unexpected changes of direction. The demonisation of diesel is a prime example of what I’m talking about — at one time, we were all being told to buy derv, policy which encouraged Jaguar Land Rover to switch most its product line to diesel power. Before long, a change of tack saw these recommendations turned on their head. Then Dieselgate broke into mainstream news.
Since February 2018, Porsche has no longer offered any diesel models in its product range and, at the end of September the same year, the Stuttgart brand announced its decision not to offer any diesel drive systems in the future. Needless to say, Jaguar Land Rover’s predominantly diesel product offerings left the company in a spot of bother from which it has not yet fully recovered.
In my professional capacity, I am constantly assessing risk and positioning the businesses I’m in charge of accordingly. Current headlines are fixated on an all-electric automotive future, but this brings many practical and logistical challenges. As this issue of 911 & Porsche World highlights, other solutions are being developed — pragmatic approaches to making existing and newly developed internal combustion engines safe for the environment and sustainable for the long term.
When considering the future of motoring, I look for informed discussion about how much the motor car is contributing to carbon emissions, where focus needs to be in order to reduce all emissions (including a look at where and what are the biggest creators of carbon emissions, as well as how the motor car fits into this structure) and how best to understand the intentions of governments around the world claiming to be focused on tackling climate change. Obviously, I also consider the automotive heritage sitting on our driveways, in our garages and being tinkered with in workshops, not least because many of my customers maintain, cherish and wish to preserve automotive history for future generations.
As time goes by, it becomes increasingly clear battery power is not the silver bullet governments think they’ve found in response to the challenges presented by increasing global temperatures. Rare minerals and special metals need to be mined for lithium battery production, a costly and, I suspect, not particularly environmentally sound procedure and, ironically, one relying on the internal combustion engine for transportation of materials to assembly plants, which produce carbon emissions (even if claimed to be carbon-neutral).
We only need to look at recent news stories to see a lack of wind power (coupled with increased gas prices) has necessitated the restart of the UK’S remaining coal power stations to supply electricity to the National Grid. There are obviously huge problems to deal with when trying to achieve a truly environmentally sound solution for energy production, automotive or not, and though I’m pleased to see advances in battery technology, governments need to be mindful not to convince people there is only one solution as far as the motor car is concerned — synthetic fuels being developed by Porsche in partnership with Shell and Siemens prove there’s appetite and investment available for the creation of alternative fuel types designed to sustainably maintain operation of the combustion engine.
There also a huge amount of work being carried out by BMW and independent organisations in the field of hydrogen fuel cell technology. In other words, while battery electric vehicles are part of the solution to climate change and a route toward sustainable motoring, they are by no means the only way forward. Governments need to be careful they aren’t exclusively and unnecessarily promoting one type of energy source — we all remember the battle Betamax and VHS engaged in to bring home entertainment to the masses.
VHS won the war, but history shows us this technology was a steppingstone to DVDS, which, in turn, led to Blu-ray. Ultimately, all of these solutions had a limited shelf life, much like governments themselves — an elected administration’s four or five-year plan can have colossal consequences for generations to follow. Obviously, the business community’s investment of time and resources in policy-driven technology is hugely influenced and affected. Naturally, I’m excited by what the future holds for the motoring world, but I won’t be giving up my mega-mile VW in favour of an EV just yet.