pistonhead

Because I also drive a VW Up! with a 59BHP engine (1.0 N/A) and I think the engine is too weak for the car.

The issue isn't the peak power, but the torque curve. Small, naturally aspirated engines have very poor torque curves, which means that you really have to rev the engine to get the rated power from it. In real driving, where you're between 2,000 and 4,000RPM most of the time, the engine only makes at most 40BHP (peak torque of a meagre 80lb-ft doesn't come in until 3,500RPM). This is fine for driving in built up areas, but it's really bad when you need to accelerate up-hill on an on-ramp to join a motorway or build up speed on dual carriageways where there are roundabouts every mile.

My concern with electric sports/performance cars is their weight over ICE cars. It ruins the characteristics of the car. You can add power to hide the weight of the car on a straight line, but in the corners the extra weight catches up to you fast. If anyone here has ever driven a Caterham or a Lotus they'll know exactly what I mean by this.

The issue here is that, in most cases, while engine downsizing tends to provide some decrease in emissions, fuel consumption isn't all that much better.

If you look at the Fiat 0.9 Twinair 2 cyclinder engine real world consumption is somewhere between 35 and 40MPG despite a manufacturer claimed 68MPG. You cannot have a car with less than 80BHP either, it would be undriveable. In comparison, the VW EA888 2.0 turbo petrol engine (in the Golf GTI, Golf R, etc) has the same real-world consumption (because I drive one), yet can produce up to 300BHP at the top of the rev range if and when you need it. The reason for this is that the engine produces so much power and torque in the low-mid rev range compared to the 0.9 Twinair, the same rate of acceleration is possible without having to work the engine at all. It's not until you put the car into Race mode and use full open throttle that consumption drops below 30MPG to the mid 20s. What's more, in the case of automatic transmissions, gear ratios and software can be made to work the engine at low RPMs 99% of the time to decrease fuel consumption. This isn't possible with the 0.9 Twinair engine because it produces too little power at low revs.

> you cannot beat the roar and power curve of a combustion engine around a track or twisty road. Hopefully they'll go like horses - electric cars will take over point to point transport, while ICE-powered vehicles will be for recreation

This this this. I think electric cars are great and should replace all non-recreational modes of transport. However, they simply do not compare to the joy and involvement you get from ICE cars. The sound and torque curve is critical for the experience, as is the involvement from a manual transmission and three pedals. I hope that petrol cars will live on.

I know that petrol and diesel contribute massively to the air quality issues we have in major cities like London (where I live and work), but as a car lover I'm also disappointed by this measure and what it would mean for people like me who love our cars.

What I'd like to see more than anything is the following:

1. Diesel powered vehicles are banned from London's congestion charge zone from 2020. If you want to drive in this zone you must drive a petrol, PHEV or fully electric vehicle. Government provides incentives for taxi drivers to trade in their old diesel taxis for PHEV or electric.

2. All London transport is fully electric by 2020. Their current hybrid buses are a joke. They spend about 5 seconds between stops on battery mode and then almost immediately start up their diesel engines on leaving each stop.

3. All new econobox cars are fully electric within the next 5 years. UK government invests in providing charging stations at existing petrol stations across the UK.

4. Sports cars and performance cars still use petrol engines. We also undo the "engine downsizing" trend that was started to help meet unrealistic emissions regulations tests. When on boost, small turbo-charged petrol engines use more fuel than their larger, naturally aspirated predecessors.