In this week's automotive adventures, Steve gives a positive take on the UK's 2030 ICE ban, chooses between two Mustangs, ponders the greenness of classic cars and more.
Monday
How long is nine years? Normally, you would call it a very long time indeed, but I reckon the years from 2021 to 2030 will flash by as we accelerate towards the date after which we now know new diesel and petrol cars will become extinct. Weirdly, I don’t feel downhearted. On one hand, it’s shocking to think that brand-new automotive descendants of cars we’ve called great for decades will soon be summarily outlawed. But I’m already excited at seeing the new-tech, new-look cars that the industry is rushing to create, along with the innovative charging solutions that are bound to emerge. I’m sure that tomorrow’s products will be better than today’s; they always have been.
As one who doesn’t much mind the authorities knowing where I am, I don’t even feel bad about eye-in-the-sky road pricing as a way of replacing the lost £40 billion in diesel and petrol taxes. I mean, what else were they going to do? My one fear is for financial policy over the next nine years: will our lawmakers speed the petrol-to-electric transition by sticking the boot into the former or by making the latter dramatically more attractive? I’m hoping for inducements rather than threats, but that’s not always how governments work.
Tuesday
We were talking, the Steering Committee and I, about the cars we should buy – old ground in a new context. Better get that Ford Mustang Bullitt you’re always boring on about, said she, but I must confess that I would feel as excited about owning a Mustang Mach-E as a V8 Mustang right now. If I had to choose, I wouldn’t know which way to jump – and I won’t until someone whose opinion I trust gets to grips with the electric model. Which reminds me again (as Autocar passes its 5500th road test) about the importance to car society of testing; it’s a 93-year-old story type that gains in relevance all the time.
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I've got nothing against the thought of an EV Mustang, if they put an EV motor under the bonnet it would be a fine sports car I'm sure. It's just that putting a Mustang badge on a crossover feels all kinds of wrong. It's like calling a Dodge Caliber a Dodge Charger, or a Renault Koleos an Alpine.
LOL! Like 2030 ban will happen!
The UK is in absolutely enormous debt. And it is going to cripple itself further? Nope...
Ban all cars in the UK and it will make almost no difference to climate change globally.
Rambling drivel.