Petrol, Diesel or Electric?

It's the age old argument of car fuel efficiency. Years ago, diesel fuel was more expensive, but lasted longer and gave you more miles per gallon. Petrol, whilst less efficient was quite substantially cheaper and the cars themselves were less expensive to buy. Now? Well let's be honest, both fuel prices are far above what they were in the good old days. We have to pray to the motoring Gods for a crash in the oil market or a Black Friday sale (thanks Asda) to get either below the pound.

Enter the Toyota Prius. In 1997 the Japanese manufacturers developed the world's first mass-produced hybrid car, with a combination of gasoline and electric capabilities. Contrary to popular belief, the minds at Toyota didn't create the hybrid concept, with vehicles that contained both an internal combustion engine and electric motor dating back as far as 1898, but this was the first instance in which it was mass produced and readily available. In truth, it was a car for the green-fingered driver, offering low-emissions as well as efficiency, but by todays standards it has struggled to keep up with the likes of BMW, Mercedes-Benz (minus last years emissions hiccup) and Audi for cost-effective travel that combines style and power at the same time. The Prius averages at between 40-50 mpg for standard highway mileage, whereas a BMW 620d will get you upwards of 60mpg. And if I'm honest, you'll look a bit cooler doing it.

All this was new, unfettered ground until 2003. In the background lurked Elon Musk and his crew at Tesla Motors. Utilising technology from Nikola Tesla's 1882 AC motor design, in 2008 they released the all-electric Roadster, the first production automobile to offer a fully electric car with a range greater than 200 miles, and since then the technology available has come on leaps and bounds. This is all at a somewhat greater cost to the consumer, as the initial base-price for a Roadster was £86,950 compared to the Prius. As time has gone on, and other manufacturers have got involved (Nissan Leaf or Renault Wind, anyone?) however, this price has decreased substantially, and the appeal to the average car-buyer has increased as a result. Their forecast for the next US release is scheduled to be at just $35,000!

So what does this mean? Could we see the fall of motoring giants like BMW and Mercedes in favour of the new kids on the block Tesla and their fierce rivals Farraday Future? Or will we see a sudden increase in new car releases as other companies try and keep up with new tech? And for those of us left behind with classic combustion engines, will we finally get a fuel price like we did 10 years ago? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

Our constant fascination with convertibles

Summertime. Hot weather, ice creams, beaches and swimming in the sea, shorts and sandals... at least, that's the case if you live somewhere like Mauritius or Florida. Here in the UK, we do get summer weather, but only for about 3 days (give or take). So with that said, why are we as a nation so fascinated with convertible cars?

I used to love rollercoasters as a kid, but my parents would only take me on rainy days so that we wouldn't have to spend most of our time in the theme park queueing. It's the memory of rain lashing at my face like thousands of tiny daggers as the ride roared around the track that has convinced me that in such a wet country, a convertible really isn't the product for me. Looking at the figures, however, it seems a large portion of the country disagrees with me. We actually buy more convertible cars in the UK than Spain, Italy and France.  In fact, we only lose out on the top spot to our German friends over in the land of BMW and Audi.

There are 2 main reasons why Brits love a top-down car. The first one is the statement. When Audi conducted a poll of their convertible drivers, 46% of them admitted to being more interested in the style of it, than actually driving with the top down and the sights and smells that come with it. Looks like we're quite vain Britain! But that's not the only reason. When we get 3 proper sweltering days of true sunshine, we do 3 things. We get the shorts out of the box on top of our cupboards. We wrestle the BBQ out of the shed. And we get the roof down on our convertibles. It's important as a brit to ensure that we squeeze every last drop of British summer out that we can until we gallivant off to Spain in September-time.

I'm not a convertible convert yet, but I'm beginning to see the appeal. So what do you think? Are convertible cars a fancy addition to a collection worth having for the sunny days to really experience the drive and make it more exciting? Or do they have no place in a country where sunny days are as frequent as shooting stars? Let us know!