When my wife and I were students, my sister and her husband kindly took us on a summer camping trip through Europe in their Vauxhall Brabham Viva.
The car was new. It had some nice stickers, the engine was souped up and the exhaust sounded like there was no muffler. Heads turned as we passed.
Judging from the number of cars around now with augmented exhausts, racy engine noises still appeal. Motoring writer Richard Bosselman was almost poetic about this in the Otago Daily Times (June 12): ''... the Jag's awesomely throaty soundtrack of a bassy bellow that builds into a glorious howl, punctuated by a gunfire-like medley of coughs and crackles when the throttle is eased, is fantastic''.
It seems some people think more noise is an indicator of more engine power, but it is actually a by-product of the inefficiency of internal combustion technology. And the energy efficiency of current vehicle engines is not good; around 25% for petrol.
Evidently Mrs Henry Ford did not like internal combustion engines. She refused to use an ''explosions car'' and in 1914 Henry bought her a Detroit Electric model 47, which she kept until the 1930s.
The efficiency of battery-electric vehicles is around 80%, which is quite high compared with conventional vehicles. And motoring writers are disputing the musical qualities of internal combustion engines.
When A.A. Gill wrote about his experiences with a battery-electric Tesla in the Sunday Times, London (September 14), he was derogatory about the sound of internal combustion engines: ''... you realise that the noise - the roar, the growl, the howl, the gurgle, the baritone buggery - that combustion engines come with and magnify and orchestrate are really bovine. Ancient 19th century.''
So perhaps the primacy of the internal combustion engine is under threat. It's not because people like A.A. Gill are committed to saving the planet by using electric vehicles, but because they think electric vehicles are sexier. Paradoxically, these people might just help to build a greener economy by following their own desires.
My Presbyterian side tells me this is wicked, but the side that thinks we need to find ways to do things better is pleased.
But electric cars will not solve the congestion and parking problems of cities like Auckland. So I am looking forward to when Auckland decides to build an overhead monorail public transport network, like SkyCab.
An analysis by engineers at Auckland University (online at http://tinyurl.com/mgml9s4) concludes that SkyCab would be the cheapest and most effective of a range of transport options for the city, as well as being electric, energy-efficient and quiet. I think it would be so cute that people would rush to use it. Auckland would rebrand itself as the City of Rails and new tourist traffic it would attract would probably pay for it. Surely there is an opportunity for the Dunedin engineering sector here.
- Emeritus Professor Gerry Carrington is a fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand and the Institution of Professional Engineers of New Zealand. Each week in this column, one of a panel of writers addresses issues of sustainability.
