I am very worried

[AntiElectric]

I am a fairly regular member on this board but I have created a new account for this post as I know this might be a little controversial

It dawned on me in a pit garage a few weeks back, standing behind two race-prepared 328i's, one of which was pouring steam out the exhaust with the team trying to get it repaired for the impending race. Another E46 M3 in a similar position, but no complaints from me - making the most amazing sound from it's heavily tuned S54. This is why I love cars - the fumes, noise. Internal combustion.
So why am I worried you wonder? Because I am 19 years old, and like it or not electric cars are my future and those of my generation.
What will this scene be in 20 years time? Plugging a cable in and sitting with a laptop? Changing batteries? What kind of future is this for enthusiasts? Where is the drama, the theatre, the passion?
Yes, I am sure that your Tesla will destroy an ICE supercar in the traffic light GP. Yes, I'm sure the world will breath better as a result. Yes, I'm sure your little electric motor is 14.856% more efficient than my gas guzzler - but I don't care. For me, the electric motor in a motor vehicle is the nightmare I have always feared. Efficiency, making sense. I don't want my car to make sense, I want to smell it, hear it, have feelings for it.

Why am I worried you ask? I have years to experience ICE?
Yes, I'm sure I do, but how will I finance it? I have 4 more years in education, more years to accumulate enough money from working to be able to afford what? A hybridised modern ICE? A 4 cylinder turbocharged electrified MPG'd ecobox? I don't want that, I want V6, straight 6, V10, V12, V8. I want proper motoring, not this cut down gimped nonsense. Hybrid? Electric? By the time I am 35 the world will have moved on to electric, but I will try my very hardest to not.
So this is why I post this. fk the MPG, fk the £450.67 saving we will make per year. I don't care whether I have to drive a £1500 mondeo shed, a V6 diesel S Class waftomatic; experience proper ICE whilst it lasts. Make it work, because I can guarantee we will sorely miss them once they are gone.

Oh, and for the love of God PLEASE can someone make hydrogen extraction feasible before the Earth succumbs to the joy-killer.

[captainaverage]

AntiElectric said:

I am a fairly regular member on this board but I have created a new account for this post as I know this might be a little controversial

It dawned on me in a pit garage a few weeks back, standing behind two race-prepared 328i's, one of which was pouring steam out the exhaust with the team trying to get it repaired for the impending race. Another E46 M3 in a similar position, but no complaints from me - making the most amazing sound from it's heavily tuned S54. This is why I love cars - the fumes, noise. Internal combustion.
So why am I worried you wonder? Because I am 19 years old, and like it or not electric cars are my future and those of my generation.
What will this scene be in 20 years time? Plugging a cable in and sitting with a laptop? Changing batteries? What kind of future is this for enthusiasts? Where is the drama, the theatre, the passion?
Yes, I am sure that your Tesla will destroy an ICE supercar in the traffic light GP. Yes, I'm sure the world will breath better as a result. Yes, I'm sure your little electric motor is 14.856% more efficient than my gas guzzler - but I don't care. For me, the electric motor in a motor vehicle is the nightmare I have always feared. Efficiency, making sense. I don't want my car to make sense, I want to smell it, hear it, have feelings for it.

Why am I worried you ask? I have years to experience ICE?
Yes, I'm sure I do, but how will I finance it? I have 4 more years in education, more years to accumulate enough money from working to be able to afford what? A hybridised modern ICE? A 4 cylinder turbocharged electrified MPG'd ecobox? I don't want that, I want V6, straight 6, V10, V12, V8. I want proper motoring, not this cut down gimped nonsense. Hybrid? Electric? By the time I am 35 the world will have moved on to electric, but I will try my very hardest to not.
So this is why I post this. fk the MPG, fk the £450.67 saving we will make per year. I don't care whether I have to drive a £1500 mondeo shed, a V6 diesel S Class waftomatic; experience proper ICE whilst it lasts. Make it work, because I can guarantee we will sorely miss them once they are gone.

Oh, and for the love of God PLEASE can someone make hydrogen extraction feasible before the Earth succumbs to the joy-killer.

Can't answer your questions and just wanted to say this exactly how I feel. I love cars and f*ck the subservient environmentally and safety obsessed fools that hate on ICE cars! F*ck them! I'll keep my non-electric proper flame shooting car as long as I can.

[Vitorio]

AntiElectric said:

By the time I am 35 the world will have moved on to electric, but I will try my very hardest to not.

Dont worry, Im nearing 35 and still dont have the money for anything more then 4 cylinders

AntiElectric said:

Oh, and for the love of God PLEASE can someone make hydrogen extraction feasible before the Earth succumbs to the joy-killer.

Hydrogen isnt the answer, its not an actual source of energy but a (rather risky) storage method, and you dont want to run an ICE on hydrogen anyway.

[lindrup119]

AntiElectric said:

I am a fairly regular member on this board but I have created a new account for this post as I know this might be a little controversial

It dawned on me in a pit garage a few weeks back, standing behind two race-prepared 328i's, one of which was pouring steam out the exhaust with the team trying to get it repaired for the impending race. Another E46 M3 in a similar position, but no complaints from me - making the most amazing sound from it's heavily tuned S54. This is why I love cars - the fumes, noise. Internal combustion.
So why am I worried you wonder? Because I am 19 years old, and like it or not electric cars are my future and those of my generation.
What will this scene be in 20 years time? Plugging a cable in and sitting with a laptop? Changing batteries? What kind of future is this for enthusiasts? Where is the drama, the theatre, the passion?
Yes, I am sure that your Tesla will destroy an ICE supercar in the traffic light GP. Yes, I'm sure the world will breath better as a result. Yes, I'm sure your little electric motor is 14.856% more efficient than my gas guzzler - but I don't care. For me, the electric motor in a motor vehicle is the nightmare I have always feared. Efficiency, making sense. I don't want my car to make sense, I want to smell it, hear it, have feelings for it.

Why am I worried you ask? I have years to experience ICE?
Yes, I'm sure I do, but how will I finance it? I have 4 more years in education, more years to accumulate enough money from working to be able to afford what? A hybridised modern ICE? A 4 cylinder turbocharged electrified MPG'd ecobox? I don't want that, I want V6, straight 6, V10, V12, V8. I want proper motoring, not this cut down gimped nonsense. Hybrid? Electric? By the time I am 35 the world will have moved on to electric, but I will try my very hardest to not.
So this is why I post this. fk the MPG, fk the £450.67 saving we will make per year. I don't care whether I have to drive a £1500 mondeo shed, a V6 diesel S Class waftomatic; experience proper ICE whilst it lasts. Make it work, because I can guarantee we will sorely miss them once they are gone.

Oh, and for the love of God PLEASE can someone make hydrogen extraction feasible before the Earth succumbs to the joy-killer.

Is it half term?

Quoted for posterity's sake.

[counterofbeans]

AntiElectric said:

this st again

Not this st again!

[IanCress]

I think ICE vehicles will still be around, but you'll be restricted where you can drive it (not in cities, for example). Fuel and tax will become expensive, so they will be effectively restriced to a weekend car.

I can imagine a time in the future where you will use electric for commuting, but you still have a V8 in the garage for weekend fun.

Similar to horses - they have long since stopped being the main mode of transport, but plenty of people still keep them in their garage and stick £20 of unleaded in them at the weekend.

I'm not a horse expert. Mine died.

[chrissyh_1988]

Sadly, the days where most of the population want ICE are probably behind us. Quite frankly, nowadays people want an appliance, not a car. They want it to be like an iphone.

If you think about what most people use cars for... commuting to their mundane jobs, not for pleasure... electric vehicles make a lot of sense as a consumer (I don't support the environmental benefits of them, but that is another issue altogether), The idea of having a cheap to run milk float which connects wirelessly to your ipod and requires hardly any maintenance is probably very appealing to most people.

As a petrol head, dude... I feel your pain.

[Plate spinner]

IanCress said:

I think ICE vehicles will still be around, but you'll be restricted where you can drive it (not in cities, for example). Fuel and tax will become expensive, so they will be effectively restriced to a weekend car.

I can imagine a time in the future where you will use electric for commuting, but you still have a V8 in the garage for weekend fun.

Similar to horses - they have long since stopped being the main mode of transport, but plenty of people still keep them in their garage and stick £20 of unleaded in them at the weekend.

I'm not a horse expert.

Agree with this. ICE cars will become a hobby.

It’s fine by me, my commute is horrid; I use a shed as it would m would be a waste of a decent car. No issues if that shed becomes electric.

[chrissyh_1988]

IanCress said:

I think ICE vehicles will still be around, but you'll be restricted where you can drive it (not in cities, for example). Fuel and tax will become expensive, so they will be effectively restriced to a weekend car.

I can imagine a time in the future where you will use electric for commuting, but you still have a V8 in the garage for weekend fun.

Similar to horses - they have long since stopped being the main mode of transport, but plenty of people still keep them in their garage and stick £20 of unleaded in them at the weekend.

I'm not a horse expert. Mine died.

This^... apart from the horse thing... it's cruel to feed a horse anything other than red diesel.

[Bennet]

It will all be ok. There will still be bikes, and autonomous cars will probably make riding a much safer proposition than it is at the moment.

[Yadizzle1]

ICE cars will remain a hobby long after the mainstream take over of electric vehicles. There is so much heritage in motor racing that it can't just disappear.

If you think about it the quicker we get electric cars doing daily duties, the less petrol we waste doing boring stuff like commuting and popping down to the shops.

Regarding your age, you don't have to wait till uni is over to experience cars. I'm in my third year of a motorsport engineering degree so me and my mates are all crazy into cars. With a few weekends and holidays sacrificed we've all been able to own non boring cars and enjoy motoring pleasure. I've had a Panda 100HP and an E36 328i Sport, my mates currently have; an S3, 335i, 200whp turbo Mx5, another turbo mx5 currently undergoing a forged engine build. You're at the right age to mess about trying to own stupid cars that will drain your wallet and cost you dearly in maintainance, go immerse yourself and worry about electric cars when the time comes .

[AC43]

AntiElectric said:

fk the MPG, fk the £450.67 saving we will make per year.

Hear hear.

Over the years there's been a growing obsession with MPG on here.

Does my head in.

This site should be about fun.

In the 36 years I have been driving MPG has NEVER been part of the selection criteria.

My family car is currently a 5.5.

That's the way it should be :-)

[ST565NP]

OP, do not worry ! There are more than 120 years old petrol cars still working well, petrol cars will still be here in 50 years time. Maybe not like a mainstream mode of transport, but petrol cars are here to stay.

[PSH]

It's a valid point and I feel sorry for the young of today.. you may be a lot younger than 35 though, MP's are currently trying to bring forward the date of banning all new petrol/diesel cars to 2030, that's just 12 years away, so perhaps 3 or 4 before car manufacturers stop producing new models. The thing is this is most likely going to happen, even if left at 2040 it won't be many years from now before car manufacturers stop all R&D on new combustion engine cars. If electric is the future which it seems to be, then it won't be many years from now when there will be no more new designs produced, it's just not good business practice to pour countless millions into new petrol/diesel cars when their shelf life will be very short as they will no longer be allowed to sell them.
So accepting that the end is near, which it most certainly is, what about current cars? will they in time all be banned? higher taxes for sure, will the classic scene be protected?... I would certainly hope so but it's an unknown, perhaps they may regulate that only those that meet the 40 year exempt rule will be allowed to be used on our roads, that's a possibility as it get's rid of the vast amount of cars that are being blamed for the pollution today, purely as 40 year old cars are by far in the minority.
We then have the next problem, who's going to produce parts to keep said cars running and what about fuel? will we go back in time and have to buy petrol (diesel will be gone) from the chemist?
So many unknowns and it saddens me to realise that at 58 years of age i may actually witness this.....very sad...

Pete

[The Selfish Gene]

I agree with the OP - and finally someone remembers it's a car forum!!

yes I'm sure the OP and others will be accused of being a luddite.

Everything I buy now - is with the intention of keeping them forever.

I've never before felt lucky to be over 40 - but I am.............as I think i'll 'just' get away with driving decent cars outlasting me.......and then I have the last 25 years to savour and remember how lucky I was to compete, and drive some wonderful German and Italian and British beautiful, big engine cars.

I'd go as far a Manual gearboxes too..............

OP discover Goodwood if you haven't already, historic racing............ save up and by a Caterham and build it yourself.

We aren't dead in the water yet.............

[SaggyOstrich]

I'm with you on this, can't stand electric cars and all this MPG conscious crap!

It's all about SPG (Smiles Per Gallon) anyway

[ghost83]

I agree op

But electric won’t ever fully take over and in performance cars they will become performance hybrids this isn’t a bad thing

Look at the mclaren p1 or the Porsche 918 and I believe as battery tech becomes better it will become lightweight so you will be able to have your cake and eat it! I genuinely wouldn’t mind any of the petrol engines mentioned coupled with hybrid systems!

A bmw m3 could end up keeping the engine it’s got but when needed or selected also driving the front axle! This would make the car quicker and more economical with virtually no drawbacks!

I believe from 2019/2020 most cars will be running this new 48v mild hybrid in fact it’s on amg Mercs now apparently! It gives abit more power but more economy!

Maybe rather than looking at electric as a bad thing maybe it could also be good!

And I reckon every performance car in 20 yrs will be a hybrid I reckon apart from supercars it will be within the next 5-6yrs

[tvrolet]

When I was a kid I thought I'd have a jet-pack by the time I was 35. Many years later I'm still waiting. I wouldn't get too concerned about folks 'predictions' for the future - they can pry my V8s (and V-twin) out of my cold dead hands etc...

[Gad-Westy]

AntiElectric said:

Oh, and for the love of God PLEASE can someone make hydrogen extraction feasible before the Earth succumbs to the joy-killer.

I wouldn't get too excited about hydrogen. My understanding is that they're effectively EV's but with a fuel cell replacing a battery.

But anyway, as others have said, even as a fan of EV's, I think we're probably a decade or more from them even representing the majority of new cars bought, let alone replacing the majority of cars already out there. Even the government are targeting 22 years before total EV take over of new car sales.

Edited by Gad-Westy on Tuesday 27th March 09:21

[DanielSan]

You created a completely new profile just to start this thread? I’d argue you’ve got bigger issues than whether cars are all electric in another 15 years...