F&I Management & Training

The motoring research charity the RAC Foundation has become a sponsor of the Royal Automobile Club's new Brighton to London Future Car Challenge taking place in November.

The Challenge is open to the latest electric, hybrid and low-emission passenger cars, light commercial vehicles and motorcycles. Around 50 entries are expected with trophy awards presented in different categories for vehicles judged to have made the least energy impact during the 60-mile run.

Commenting on the Foundation's decision to support the event, its director Professor Stephen Glaister said, "We are at a pivotal point in the greening of road transport. This Challenge will showcase the new generation of ultra low-carbon vehicles to the public. If the country is to meet its commitments to fight climate change then it is the average driver who needs to be convinced that these cars, vans and bikes are both practical and affordable. The Future Car Challenge is the ideal way to demonstrate to a large audience what tomorrow's cars will look like and how they will perform."

The Foundation regards greener transport as a key area on which to focus research and in March 2010 published Driving Down Emissions - The Potential of Low Carbon Vehicle Technology.

With a quarter of all CO2 emissions coming from transport - and 90% of these originating from road vehicles - the Foundation backs the automotive industry's attempts to make their products increasingly environmentally friendly.

Professor Glaister continued: "With people right across the income spectrum reliant on car travel, the question is not; how you eradicate motor vehicles? But how you accommodate them? How do you make them greener, whilst preserving mobility?"

The Foundation recognizes much can still be achieved by further refinement of the internal combustion engine which could deliver efficiency savings of 15 to 30 per cent by 2020.

In the longer term it is up to the Government to help shape the market for ultra-low carbon vehicles such as those powered by electricity and hydrogen, but the Foundation believes it unlikely that any one technology will provide all the answers.

The Future Car Challenge takes place on Saturday 6 November, the day before the world famous London to Brighton Veteran Car Run (LBVCR) and using the same 60-mile route, but in reverse! The formal finish will be in Pall Mall followed by a special ceremonial finish and presentation in Regent Street. Here, the vehicles will join the display of more than 100 pre-1905 motor cars in the LBVCR International Concours in front of an estimated 250,000 audience.