The Internal Combustion engine is dead...

The internal combustion engine is dead…. Long live the internal combustion engine.
As we get ever closer to 2030 and the cessation of the manufacturing of cars with internal combustion engines, the volume of conversation over the use of such cars beyond that date is increasing.

I have a few pennyworth to add to the swirling mass of knowledgeable and perhaps not so erudite information and opinions.
One question that has been asked many times is ‘Will the use of classic cars be banned, or curtailed?’

Well, I don’t know for sure, but at a guess, the infrastructure to support the use of such vehicles will begin to disappear over the next few years. Petrol pumps will be replaced by plug in points and hydrogen hoses, meaning that petroleum-based fuel supply will become a more specialised business.

Which, business types will step in to sell petrol and, probably later, diesel is an interesting bone of contention. Certainly, there will be specialist suppliers… cue a plug for my own interest, Fuzz Townshend’s Classic Oils and the company’s recent appointment as UK distributor for Gulf specialist fuels, including liquid energy for everything from hedge trimmers to McLarens. But we can’t be everywhere (watch this space) ;-) (journalistic no-no), full stop.

Motor factors, I love them, there’s always something useful or wonderful on their shelves. Perhaps the roadside dispensing of petrol and diesel could become part of their portfolios, especially as many of their other product ranges become as obsolete as the fuel itself.

Maybe, the winners in the petroleum fuelling game will emanate from the same bunch of countryside entrepreneurs that have provided support for the solid fuels market for years.

These potential winners are farmers. With a necessity for diversity of income sources, and with their proximity to any number of classic car owners and good driving roads, the setting up of a publicly available supply of fossil-based liquid fuels could be an additional business lifeline.

Electric and hydrogen powered vehicle will inherit the roads, but just like our former providers of motive power, horses, cattle and coal, petroleum power will remain available to us for as long as we can be bothered to strive for it.

- Fuzz t