New ICE Age

The Internal Combustion Engine and the troublesome transitioning to electric vehicles.

I put off writing this article for a while because I didn’t want people to confuse it with another “ICE” that was in the headlines at the time. It’s been 140 years since Karl Benz introduced to the world his Motorwagen with the internal combustion engine (ICE) being around a little longer than that. However, in an ever-increasingly tech savvy and climate conscious world, has the internal combustion engine seen the last of its days or is it still great and we still need and love it?

It doesn't get much better than a V12 at full noise - Image courtesy of Martyn Foster.

Aside from a century and some of research and development, the ICE has become incredibly reliant, effective and efficient over its iterations with the ability to be designed for varying purposes and durations. Electric cars have not had the same time span to improve and are still in the beginning phase of their life cycle. While their range, reliability and recharging (refuelling) abilities are progressing, they’re not anywhere near their counterpart, although they’re much more energy-efficient in converting energy to power at the wheels while losing less to heat and friction.

There are problems within the car industry, and we’ll get to some of those in a minute and later on, nonetheless, the majority of vehicles on our roads are SUVs and 4WDs. I’m not going to lie, I think most people could get away with a small hatchback for most of their driving needs and the rest is excessive to their requirements. This would dramatically cut down on emissions and fuel usage along with saving countless other resources and maintenance costs to car and road networks alike. However, as people, at least for the time being, have the freedom to choose their own car, it’s what the people want…and they don’t seem to want them powered by an electric motor.

While the process of making an electric vehicle is a lot more carbon intensive than an ICE vehicle, this is supposed to offset after a number of years with the eventuality that over the lifespan of the car it should be significantly less in terms of emissions. As it is believed when we transition to a more renewable energy grid this effect should become greater. The infrastructure, in a lot of countries, is not there to support even a significant amount of EVs let alone an all-EV future.

The infrastructure is gradually progressing, but still not adequate for a mass rollout of electric vehicles - Photo by Bob Osias on Unsplash.

Despite the massive push from governments and other political and regulatory bodies along with the media, there has been significant push back to the electrification of the car industry. Most notably, Germany and Japan have expressed their concerns over such things, voicing for an extension of ICEs and their continuation with the development of synthetic or e-fuels. The EU mandate of no combustion engine cars by 2035 needs to be looked at and re-adjusted before they destroy their car markets and deal substantial economic damage to the region. Politicians are forcing car makers to design and make cars that the majority of people don’t want to buy, and then wonder why new car sales are continually going down and industries are on the brink and all doom and gloom outlook.

The new all-electric Ferrari Luce was launched this week much to a resounding disappointment, but I don't think Ferrari is trying to appeal to its existing audience with this car. As I wrote in my article last week, I make no attempt to hide how much of a motoring enthusiast I am and how much I love cars, but this iPhone on wheels must have Enzo Ferrari rolling over in his grave. So much for “even non-car people can recognise a Ferrari”. I mean, that’s one of my personal gripes, soulless electric cars are nothing more than a tech appliance like a phone or microwave, and that’s the polar opposite of how I feel about cars. EVs elicit no emotion or passion for motoring for me. It’s part of the reason why Jeremy Clarkson basically said there was no point in continuing The Grand Tour with these types of vehicles coming.

So, who are these cars for? Who are the types of people who want them?

EVs are for non-car people. Or status seekers. Or tech types. Or environmentalists. Or people looking to pay away their responsibility by buying an EV. James Bond wouldn’t drive an EV (who knows, I shouldn’t give Amazon ideas). We’re dealing with a different type of person now. The one who sees the car as a threat to the planet rather than liberator of the people.

Is it possible that EVs could save the desirable cars with internal combustion? Kind of like the car saving the horse to be used for leisure and recreation rather than work?

I don’t like the look or sound (or lack thereof) of EVs. I respect the engineering and some of the performance. However, I largely find new cars undesirable, but the old cars are too expensive for me. Throughout this article I’ve tried to maintain a fairness to the EV especially when talking about it from a societal point of view, despite my personal loathing of them. My integrity is paramount and I’m not going to dismiss a point just because I don’t like them or have no desire for them. Like I said last week, this isn’t political for me – although it seems to be for everyone else. There are real problems to be solved, this isn’t the time for pie-in-the-sky fantasies with an “oh, sorry” when it doesn’t work out. If you kill off ICE prematurely and entirely, we’ll all being driving Chinese EVs in the future, and I’m not sure that is a future many of us want.  

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