The motor car will have to adopt a mix of electric, petrol-electric and diesel-electric powertrains if it’s going to survive into the second half of the 21st century according to automotive emissions expert Richard Parry-Jones.Formerly Ford’s head of product development, Parry-Jones says that the small internal combustion engine will survive alongside new drivetrain technologies. His latest article on the future form of the car can be read in the 8th October issue of Autocar magazine. Autocar is running a series of articles by Parry-Jones on the future of the car. “The biggest change that I see over the next ten years is not hybrids or electric cars, but a new breed of petrol engine,” he predicts. According to Parry-Jones, engines will have smaller displacements, fewer cylinders, higher compression ratios, more sophisticated turbocharging and faster warm-up devices.After 2020, he says that electric city cars, plug-in hybrid family cars, super-efficient internal combustion budget cars and diesel hybrid executive cars will come to prominence.
