Happy New Year ! Could this be where the car of the future is developed?

The Car of the Future Could be developed in a shed?

Britain has a long list of great inventions. Many of them were made in a garden shed.

As we enter what we hope will be the "roaring twenties", we need to lead the world in Automotive solutions for the future. It's crystal clear, to anyone with a brain, that diesel / hybrid and electric only SUVs are not the car of the future.

A FIAT 600 achieved 293.45 mpg in 1959.

Yet here we are, in 2020, where most cars still struggle to achieve any more miles per gallon than they did in 2010. Whatever your feelings on the effects of Anthropogenic Greenhouse gases (there is much evidence to suggest that CO2 is not in fact the major cause of climate change), the momentum to be more efficient is causing a knee jerk reaction by manufacturers. They are holding up the electric car as the solution, when powered by Lithium batteries and charged by fossil fuelled electricitiy, it is anything but.

More effort should be made to develop a new breed of lightweight personal transport, that uses composites and efficient engines to offer a real choice.

It could well be the case, that if SVA regulations were relaxed (new test could just check indicators, lights and brakes!) a whole new raft of innovative vehicles could be developed by individuals. Inevitably someone will get backing and before you know it we're leading the world in efficient vehicle design. 

Anthony Bruce, the founder of Lotus, first designed and built a Lotus racing car in a stable, behind The Railway Hotel in North London. Chapman used a power drill and an old Austin 7, to create the Lotus Mark I. Far from autonomous electric vehicles being the answer, I would suggest the opposite is required. To solve the future we perhaps need to look back to the past...

 Messerschmitt Bubble Car from 1955

Imagine for a moment, if you could hit 300mpg on the way to work and back, you'll have plenty of money spare to roll out your Fire Breathing V8 for a quick spin on the weekend. If that was run on synthetic fuel it could be carbon neutral as well. Once thing is for sure, A Tesla is NOT carbon neutral.