For Sam Prever our Prestige Regional Underwriter, there was something electrifying in the air this year at Goodwood Festival of Speed. But what does this mean for the ICE (Internal Combustion Engine) fans out there?
The End of the ICE Age?
Goodwood’s annual Festival of Speed has always been wonderful for those seeking nostalgia and 2021 saw the show’s return. Even though it was pulled together at the last minute when government restrictions were lifted, it certainly delivered.
This year though, there was something new in the air with the introduction of ‘Electric Avenue’, giving visitors an opportunity to see pretty much all the new electric vehicles available - from a 2000 BHP hyper car to the soon to arrive Mustang MachE. A few years ago, this would have been, at best, a sideshow with a few early adopters paying attention… this year, it is by far the most popular talking point… and EV’s were more than holding their own, setting times up the famous hill climb.
Lotus were given their ‘moment’ (each year one manufacturer is chosen) and they epitomised the motor industry today. They chose to launch two new cars; the Evija (you can choose exactly how you want to pronounce that) - their first all-electric sports car and the new Emira - which they vaunted as their last ever ICE car. A nomenclature that in all the years of traditional power plants you may not have heard before but is obviously an Internal Combustion Engine
With the government announcement that no petrol or diesel engine vehicles will be sold after 2030 and many manufacturers like Jaguar and Aston Martin announcing the date by which they will be ‘all electric’, the new age is dawning and petrolheads (or whatever we will have to call ourselves in the future) are seemingly embracing it.
So, what of the ICE cars? Someone said that when you own and start to drive an electric vehicle you feel like an ex-smoker looking at the people still smoking, coughing and spluttering and feel somewhat righteous and pleased with yourself… But for me the analogy ends there because we will always look back fondly to the roar of a V8 and the scream with a turbo that stirs emotions we didn’t know we had. In the right hands they are not as health threatening as nicotine and can stir a much deeper emotion. Goodwood will take on probably a greater significance… just like museum exhibits are so popular.
