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• Internal combustion engines will soon be banned from roads.
• Automakers are accelerating the route towards electric vehicle adoption.
• Motorists are also embracing these new vehicles like never before. .
• For more motoring stories, go to Wheels24.
Cars with an internal combustion engine (ICE) could soon go the same route as dinosaurs – and become extinct! This is because, all over the globe, countries are looking to ban ICE vehicles from their roads.
Norway is the most progressive country in this regard; it has announced that only zero-emission cars can be sold by 2025. Just last week, the UK government announced plans to accelerate the ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel vehicles, bringing it forward by five years to 2030, as part of a "green industrial revolution".
Faced with growing pressure to shun fossil fuel – coupled with a determination to save the planet – car makers are accelerating the route towards electric vehicle (EV) adoption.
Back in 2017, Volvo became the first major car manufacturer to go all-electric, announcing that every new car in its range would have an electric powertrain available from 2019. Volvo Cars has committed to putting one million electrified vehicles on the road by 2025 while its CEO, Håkan Samuelsson, has suggested that "around 2035 there will be a serious discussion about banning the internal combustion engine".
Volvo certainly isn't the only company eyeing EVs – far from it. Toyota reckons that EVs will account for half of its sales by 2025. The majority of Cadillac sales will be EVs by 2030. Volkswagen is spending €30 billion (R715 billion) over the next five years to make an electric or hybrid version of all its vehicles (it will launch 70 new EVs by 2028). And Bentley will stop making fossil fuel cars by 2030.
Motorists are also embracing these new vehicles like never before. Sales of EVs topped 2.1 million globally in 2019, registering a 40% year-on-year increase.
So, it can safely be said that we will see fewer ICE-powered cars on our roads. However, they could most definitely still be parked in our garages – as these motoring dinosaurs become collector's items.
But what makes a car a collector's item and why should ICE vehicles fit the bill? According to George Mienie, AutoTrader CEO, a collector's car needs to be something really special – for any variety of reasons. "They can be classic/vintage cars, they can be extremely rare, or they can be associated with someone famous - Carroll Shelby or Ayrton Senna, for instance," he explains.
"This means that ICE cars will certainly fit the bill sometime soon - because they will indeed become rarer," he points out.
Take the Bentley Continental GT, for instance. The company's best-selling car since its introduction in 2003, this model has long been sought after – both amongst new car buyers and collectors alike. It's possible to acquire one via AutoTrader for a mere R749 995 (that's for a 2004 model, with 89 000km on the clock). It has a six-litre petrol engine, which – come 2030 – will cease production forever. Accordingly, the Bentley Continental GT could turn out to be a great collector's car.
The same could be said of the Hummer: in future, you will only be able to buy a Hummer EV, which will deliver a stonking 1 000hp of power. This could mean that Hummers with petrol engines could gain in value. It's possible to acquire one for R159 950 (that's for a 2008 H3 Auto, with 150 000 km on the clock).
Finally, the Jaguar XJ is due for replacement and rumours are rife that it will only be available in electric guise. Grab one now for R249 900 (for a 2010 XJ 5.0 Supercharged SuperSport with 132 000 km on the clock) and who knows? Maybe it will be worth a small fortune one day.
Sources: Quattro Daily; Forbes
