ENGINE FORECAST

Press, Volume CXV, Issue 33774, 21 February 1975, Page 4

ENGINE FORECAST

There will be no dramatic changes in the type of engine used in motor vehicles for at least 25 years, the British Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders has concluded in an analysis of future motoring trends.

The report is the result of deliberations of a' steering committee formed last March under the chairmanship of Mr D. Plastow, the group managing director of, Rolls-Royce Motors. While the internal combustion engine using oilderived fuels will remain the power unit for the mass of road transport until' at least the end of this century, the committee says there could he a rise in the use of diesel engines in both cars and light commercial vehicles. Major improvements in fuel consumption can be expected from modifications to the internal combustion engine, altered gearing, more aerodynamic vehicle styling and other evolutionary rather than revolutionary changes. Although nearly all motor

vehicles in Britain rely on oil fuels, road transport accounts for only 21 per cent of the total national oil consumption, the report says. Major economies in oil consumption in Britain must be sought in other industrial areas.

While the report virtually dismisses the possibility of any turn towards electric vehicles for all but the most limited purposes, it indicates that hydrogen might well prove to be the fuel for mass transport in the next century, depending, however, on the speed and efficiency of the nation’s nuclear energy programme.