The motoring research charity the RAC Foundation has sponsored the Royal Automobile Club's next Brighton to London Future Car Challenge.
The Challenge, taking place in November, 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?”
