I would
hazard a guess that the first thing that comes to mind when you think of
Sustainability (assuming one comes to mind at all, given the complexity of the
subject) would not be racing cars. At least, it would unlikely be as an
exemplar of sustainable practises. I hope in the next few paragraphs to show
otherwise.
Car
manufacture is not an area in which I have conducted any specialist research or
in which I am expert, but it is certainly an interest. For the past century,
that activity has been dominated by an approach to production that has changed
processes in nearly every manufacturing production system from food to fabric
and chemicals to cars. There are those who consider Fordism, or the
reorganisation of manufacturing around labour specialisation and bulk delivery,
an example of the most unsustainable of practises. Famously, Henry Ford
declared, if I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster
horses. The Fordist model brought new technologies to the masses through
processes that reduced costs extraordinarily. The resulting high private car
ownership and use, once limited to developed countries, now also a major issue
in developing countries, contributes significantly as one of our most popular,
yet unsustainable practises. Whilst unsustainable for reasons of, at the least,
pollution and congestion, it is popular, we use it to compare ourselves with
others as a measure of wealth (it is in the census) and it will be restrictively
painful to remove it from our individual aspiration.
We have
fantastic specialism within the ISSR in sustainable transport. Professor Jon
Shaw, along with co-author Professor Iain Doherty, has just released, this
month, their newest book called “The Transport Debate”. In it, they guide the
reader on a series of journeys, imagining, if they can, themselves as different
members of the demographic, attempting to bring together the understanding of
personal experience of travel with the different modes available. You might
argue that it is hard for two, rather-larger-than-they-would-like-to-be, white,
middle-class, middle-aged gentlemen to truly understand the experiences and
motivations for transport of, say, a young, lower-income, single mother and the
challenges or enjoyments that she would face to fulfil her transport needs.
However, through a robust methodology including in-depth interviews, the
authors achieve this excellently. The result is a compelling case for the need
for re-imagination of both the study of transport and also the delivery of
transport provision.
The case
for public transport is particularly profound, but the argument is made that
the quality of the experience of transport must be improved to win footfall
from private vehicles. My personal feeling is that the time that it will take
to overcome the organisational inertia and barriers to investment that restrict
the development of public transport will be too long and hence be overtaken by
the wonderfully disruptive innovation taking place in private vehicle provision.
Electrification of private transport will not deal with the unsustainability of
the practise of private transport use, but it will certainly help make a change
to global greenhouse gas emissions and the urban health dangers from breathing
fumes during congestion. Several major car companies have already introduced
mass-produced models for the consumer market. Indeed, other major
organisations, seeking to manage their brand reputation and reduce marginal costs
associated with fuel use, have sourced large volumes of these vehicles as fleet
cars. Ask any cars salesman after they have finished work, however, and there
remains the challenge of broad-based uptake. This is based on three key
concerns: range, performance and reliability. The last of these is largely
based on perception of the longevity of performance and will necessarily take
time to establish and cannot be easily overcome. The first and second are a
challenge for technology.
It can be
argued that the sharp end of innovation occurs at the far end of what is
possible, or was previously impossible. I found it refreshing, then, to see
recently just how much has been achieved in so little time in the innovation
cycle of electric racing cars. One British firm recently smashed the world
record for the fastest speed recorded on land by an electric vehicle; the video
of which is available here (www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-23051252). This new
record of 204 mph over two consecutive runs, set in June 2013, improved upon a
previously held record of 148 mph just less than one year before. The scale of
improvement is truly spectacular. We are clearly a long way off the
mass-production of 200+ mph-capable electric vehicles zipping through the roads
of nations. Indeed, that would probably be undesirable for safety reasons.
Nonetheless, it serves, splendidly, as a marker that performance of electric
vehicles is improving and, perhaps, as a first step towards achieving some of
our sustainability goals, that private transport can become less of an enemy to
inevitable destiny. Perhaps, Fordism (as a tool for the efficient allocation of
resources) can be employed to deliver sustainability?! As Lord Drayson mentions
in this interview “…the technology that is used in this electric racing car
will filter down to the cars that we use every day…” (www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-23051252).
My argument
here is that to be truly adopted as a global practise, sustainability must not
only re-invent, as all good brands do, but must recognise the shifting nature
of the problem it seeks to serve. The foundation of intergenerational equity is
unwavering. How it is achieved, however, must recognise that new solutions will
throw up new challenges. Dealing with those challenges may involve step-change
in our behaviour, or, as seen through the electrification of private transport,
technologically-enhance existing, perhaps individually attractive, behaviours. Of
course, the gaseous emissions from private vehicles are only one element of the
unsustainable practises associated with their use. Congestion remains a drag on
productivity and on the enjoyment of the experience. Reducing volume of private
transport will remain a challenge and one for the next re-invention of
sustainability. As a first step, though, it seems reasonable to increase urban
health benefits and decrease global greenhouse gas emissions through innovation
in private transport, allowing people to still enjoy those behaviours that many
have come to enjoy. The route to that milestone must be through
high-performance and if the British can break some records and lead the way
then may it, indeed, be celebrated!
Dr Tim Daley is Director of the Institute for Sustainability Solutions Research (ISSR)
