Post by account_disabled on Feb 20, 2024 1:28:42 GMT -7
Japanese automaker Honda has accelerated its commitment to a carbon-neutral future by announcing it will exit Formula 1 by citing the need to accelerate the auto industry's shift away from the internal combustion engine (ICE). . The move aligns with the automaker's focus on a rapid transition to electric vehicles (EV). Last year, it pledged to sell only vehicles with electric drivetrains in Europe by 2025 and to reduce sales of ICE vehicles to less than a third of the global total by the same date. Honda has committed to achieving carbon neutrality by 2050 through “ future power and energy unit technologies, including fuel cell and battery vehicle technologies .” What consequences does this decision bring? Honda's decision leaves the sport with just three engine suppliers, and the Red Bull and Alpha Tauri teams without one. Honda had worked with Red Bull since winning a series of grands prix but failing to challenge the dominance of world champions Mercedes. Red Bull reiterated its commitment to F1, with team principal Christina Horner saying " we will now take the time given to us to evaluate and find the most competitive powerplant solution for 2022 and beyond .
Honda's withdrawal from the sport highlights the challenges facing F1 as the world pivots towards electrification and manufacturers prioritize responding to the climate crisis and the host of legal restrictions on the sale of combustion engines. internal. The disadvantages of electrical technology Unfortunately, so far electric technology is not capable of propelling vehicles to the sustained speeds seen Europe Cell Phone Number List in an F1 Grand Prix. The sport currently uses 1.6-litre V6 turbo-hybrid engines, with a thermal efficiency of 50%, compared to just 30% for average road engines. F1 bosses are looking at other ways to reduce carbon consumption, including synthetic fuels that capture carbon from the atmosphere in their manufacture and can therefore be labeled “ carbon neutral ”. But Honda's decision to abandon the sport underscores the question of how long manufacturers will find hybrid powertrains relevant in a world that is accelerating toward full electrification. This shift continues to accelerate, as evidenced by the latest industry figures in the UK, which reveal that 44,708 purely electric cars have been sold since the start of the year, almost three times the total for the same period in .
Despite that growth, all-electric car sales still make up just 5% of the UK total. Price is often cited as a barrier, with zero-emission vehicles costing up to £10,000 more than their ICE equivalent. However, a new study from fleet management company LeasePlan suggests that this price difference may be misleading, as it does not take into account the lower running costs of electric vehicles. Deceptive price difference in electric cars The aforementioned study found that mid-size electric cars, such as the Tesla Model 3 or BMW 3, cost just £832 a month to buy and run, compared to £911 for diesel and £963 for the gasoline, once fuel values, taxes, maintenance, insurance and depreciation are taken into account. The same is not true for small cars, such as the Nissan Leaf and Vauxhall Astra, where battery cars were found to be marginally more expensive, costing £657 a month, compared to £645 for diesel and 642 pounds of gasoline.