The Telegraph: Are gas-powered cars making a comeback?
The heat has gone out of the business of saving-the-planet these days as car makers batten austerity hatches. As a result, the recent annual Cenex low-carbon vehicle conference and exhibition was commensurately low-key.
Missing in action were Honda with its excellent FCX Clarity, or Hyundai with its ix35 fuel-cell car. Even Daimler, with its near-production-ready fuel-cell B-class, was a late entry. Robert Evans, the Cenex CEO, admits that the alternative fuel world is a little quieter these days, but there’s no shortage of research and development going on.
“We’ve still got to have the right product in five or six years, so we need that R&D,” says Evans. “There’s everything to fight for and I don’t see companies saying 'don’t offer us any more money because we can’t match the funding’. It’s closer to market where the economic problems are raising their heads. There’s not a huge pent-up demand for alternative fuel vehicles as the conventional car already fills the demand for mobility. And yes, the sector would be a lot stronger if the economy was stronger.” MORE