Has the combustion engine finally gone up in smoke?

It’s funny how things change. Given the widespread concerns over the cleanliness of established fuels today, it seems almost hard to believe that in 2001, a Labour government was promoting diesel as the cleanest alternative to petrol. Fast forward to today, and it’s often derided as being a dirty pollutant, a major contributor to an estimated 71,000 premature UK deaths a year, and the government is now planning to ban the sale of all new petrol and diesel vehicles from 2040.

And yet, for now, almost every single one of us is dependent on the fuel in some way, whether we realise it or not. It fuels our cars, it fuels our municipal services, and it fuels the HGVs that supply supermarkets with the food we eat.

However, that’s not set to be the case forever. As a country, we’re already exploring the potential for several ‘alternative fuels’, like compressed gas, hydrogen, and yes, electricity, which some experts are hoping may one day replace the use of diesel and petrol entirely.

So, does this mean the end of the internal combustion engine?

Well, here at TankSafe, we think not. Now, obviously we’ve got something of a vested interest in diesel as a commodity, as it’s a sizeable market for our innovative products like TankSafe Optimum. However, the longevity of diesel isn’t just optimistic thinking on our part. Here are just a few reasons why! 

1.    Insufficient infrastructure

This has long been a criticism of electric cars in particular, as they need an entirely new charging infrastructure to keep them on the roads. By plenty of expert estimations, that’s not happening fast enough. For electric cars to be viable for drivers nationwide, drivers need to be able to access charging points and be in and out quickly, ideally in minutes rather than hours. That’s simply not possible as things stand.

For a real world example, we can look back no further than this past festive season across December / January 2023, when one motorist spotted over 20 Tesla drivers queuing in an extensive wait for a slot at just one of eight available chargers. It’s a very clear case in point of what happens the popularity of a mode of transport outstrips the ability of the infrastructure available to handle it. And if that’s a trend that ends up repeating itself nationwide, it’s not impossible that drivers will quickly start to go off them.

2.    Diesel has fewer issues around range and refuelling

Now, we’ve already covered the difficulty in just reaching an available refuelling station (or recharging station). But even once drivers are able to access one, it’s not immediately all smooth sailing from there.

Right now, drivers of combustion engine vehicles can refuel themselves in minutes. For drivers of EV vehicles for example, it’s considerably longer than that, so that additional time often needs to be factored into journeys. That’s annoying enough as a private motorist, but when you’re running to strict schedules – as many commercial drivers are – that immediately makes life a lot more difficult, limiting the practicality of EVs for a lot of commercial and industrial sectors.

Another issue with EVs is one that’s shared with a couple of other alternative fuels too, and that’s range. EVs are useful for individual motorists for short, local journeys, but they don’t yet have the range to undertake particularly long trips (at least, not without several stops and a whole lot of extra planning).

It’s a drawback also shared by compressed natural gas. At the moment, that fuel requires huge tanks to accommodate, which means that vehicles can only store the equivalent of a few gallons, and that severely limits their range. As you’ve already surmised, then, alternative fuels like these are probably not going to be viable for the haulage sector for quite some time, certainly not compared to diesel.  

3.    Diesel is not as expensive as many alternative fuels 

Right now, not many people can afford alternative fuels, individually or as a business. Period. See, that’s the classic paradox with emerging technologies like these – they tend to require initial investment and a bit of financial risk before they can be made more cheaply and more widely available. However, because of that initial investment, most consumers tend to be very cautious about spending more of their hard-earned money on something that’s not yet proven.

What’s more, there are always lots of people who are outright unable to make the switch – which is especially true in today’s economic climate. Diesel on the other hand is far more well-established, making it the far more economically viable – and it’s likely to remain so for quite some time to come.  

So, where do we go from here?

To be honest, we’re at a bit of a crossroads at the moment. Work is certainly being done to make alternative fuels more viable, but we’re not likely to see the end of petrol or diesel for a long time yet.

For starters, it’s worth remembering that there will be quite a long transition period – just because they’re being phased out in the next few decades, it doesn’t mean they’ll suddenly vanish. The bans apply to the sale of new vehicles, which means that there will still be considerable numbers of combustion engines on the roads. And of course, many second-hand vehicles often end up in developing countries, where they’re used until they finally become scrap. So like it or not, they’ll be around for quite some time yet. 

Something that also doesn’t often get a lot of attention is the fact that diesel engines have come quite a long way from where they were, and while they’re far from perfect from an environmental standpoint, they’re notably cleaner than they used to be. Between 2002 and 2012, NOx and particulate emissions on diesel trucks reduced by 99% and 98% respectively.

Now, that’s also not to say that alternative fuels aren’t worthy of attention going forward, or continual investment – certainly not in light of the worsening climate crisis. However, what we must avoid as a society is hurtling towards arbitrary targets without giving due consideration to the logistical or economic challenges that are already becoming evident (such as hose we’ve outlined above).

We already have one major prominent case study for this phenomenon: smart motorways. They were lauded as a “win-win” for motorists by the then-Minister for Transport all the way back in 2008. Thirteen years later, one of her successors noted that “calling these things ‘smart’, I think was a misnomer.” By the same token, smart motorways have even been deemed “inherently unsafe” by South Yorkshire’s Police and Crime Commissioner.

And to apply this to alternative fuels, there are already concerns that the 2040 goal might be too ambitious, too unrealistic, even as we head towards it at breakneck speed. But before we’re too hasty in phasing out combustion engines for other types of fuels, we need to be certain that they are actually capable of being worthy improvements.

Because if not, we’re just swapping one set of problems for another.

Whatever the case, combustion engines certainly aren’t going anywhere for the time being, especially for the haulage sector. So if you’re looking at protecting your fuel, that’s exactly where we can help.

We offer a range of products specifically designed to protect your fuel – and your bottom line. Our TankSafe Optimum is an antisiphon device which we’ve specifically designed to provide 100% protection, so you can have peace of mind against fuel spills, overfilling, and skimming. You can find out more on its dedicated page on our website, or find out answers to some of the most common questions over on our FAQs page. If you’ve still got queries, our experts will be happy to resolve them - fee free to give us a quick call on 01253 400 401, and we’ll be happy to help however we can!

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