UK 'to be green tech leader'

[f6fhellcat13]

Rolls-Royce, Bentley and Mini - German.
Jaguar and Land Rover - Indian.
Aston Martin - Kuwaiti.
Lotus - Malaysian.

So I assume they're leaving this task to Morgan and Bristol?

You're forgetting one; Triumph.
(The motorcycle one)

This may be a four-wheeled forum so we're all inclined to believe that cars are the way of the future and forget bikes, but bikes offer a lot more of the basic elements needed for good economy.
Admittedly, safety and load capacity are problems, but a bike with a more-complete fairing and (numerically) lower gears using a modern bike's platform would generate some astronomical fuel economy numbers.

EDIT: Bikes, unlike cars, have been getting lighter.

[lightweight]

How is that?

I mean, why are we going backwards?

Backwards or forward, it depends on everyone's point of view.

In terms of safety, reliability, comfort and affordability, it seems that the industry is going forward.

In terms of emissions we are more or less the same, since advanced engine technology compensates for the increased consumption caused by weight gains.

But in terms of driver satisfaction we are going backwards.

So, this being an auto enthusiast forum, I guess most would claim that we are going backwards.

I think that you can get the best of both worlds and gain an advantage: Lotus Elise: affordable, exciting, safe, low emissions, sexy

[Matra et Alpine]

Minor correction.
THe original Elite was a monocoque fibreglass construction with front steel frame to support engine and front suspension.
Early build did have quality problems and you can tell as the 'glass crazies real bad.
It was a strong build.
The thing easily forgotten is that with a light car then when you get hit the car MOVES much earlier than with a heavy car. So you actually can get less intrusion into the passenger area.
However, in gneral old cars less safe than modern
BUt fit a decent competition cage and it's all turned around !

Think you were thingking of the Elan and the later Elite and then the Esprit.
Personally having been in all of them the Esprit is the scariest as you realise the backbone comes half way up your chest. Side intrusion is going to be instant death

[W.R.]

Why on earth does this little island need to 'lead the world'? We do bugger all damage in comparison to China and America. I'll do my bit when they do theirs.

[Matra et Alpine]

coz only the "leader" in any technology has any chance of making money out of the efforts.
That money is what pays salaries and then taxes and then (hopefully) fixes the roads we drive on

We used to be world experts on deep coal mining. But then we closed all the pits and now nobody has a clue
Most areas had major "leadership" from the UK at one time which built the wealth we've been frittering away these last 25 years.

The downside of goverment ideas like this is ... every other government is thinking the same. So it does really come back to which one has the strongest current economy to invest in developing the new ones. We WERE world leaders in tide/wave electric power generation but governmnets woudln't invest and so we're back playing catch up

Stealing a bit of the American economy model woudl be even better.
Make it more profitable/tax efficient to design and deply these technologies and leave smart people to build businesses !o

[Cotterik]

We may not have the superpower car manufacturers OFFICES on our soil, but as previously mentioned we have the history and the know-how to be a big part of the green movement. On paper the owners and the money makers of the big british car firms arent british. But the workers and the people are still british. This country has an immensely wide car industry that many european and asian car manufacturers have a big part in. The paperwork may be left to the highest bidders. But the dirty work goes on here. This country has pretty much revolved around the car industry since the early 19th century. And although the financial aspects have drifted overseas, we still thrust forward in new technology and motorsport engineering. So whatever humour some people see in britain being any sort of driving force in the car industry is completely unjustified. Grudges aside ofcourse. Which wouldn't surprise me.

[Matra et Alpine]

^^^^^^^^ Sorry, but the British car industry is a mere fraction of what it once was in design AND manufacturing.
Go back to the early 70s before the real rot set in and cmopare the efforts in design and manufacturing of components and cars.
We are good at the innovation for sure ... but we historically then screw it up in the implementation leaving someone else to pick it up and do it "properly".