The internal combustion engine is on it’s death bed, but let’s not mourn.

The UK government announced on Wednesday morning that it plans to ban all fossil fuel vehicles from 2040.

This follows a similar decision made by France a fortnight previous, and Germany are planning the same, already implementing bans in some of it’s cities.

Ireland brought out a proposal yesterday, saying all cars sold here will be zero-emissions by 2030. Like most legislation in Ireland, we’ll undoubtedly drag our feet on the issue, but it’ll make no difference regardless, because with big markets in Europe actually making the shift, there’ll be no industry for the internal combustion left anyway.

As a die-hard car enthusiast, I should be deeply saddened by this, and a tiny part of me is. I’ve grown up to my now 30 years, immersed in the sounds and smells of the combustion engine. It’s a large part of the appeal of the motor car, but it’s not the integral element.

It was fun while it lasted old girl, but it’s time for change.

My mind has been conflicted for years, I love cars, but, I also like to believe I’m quite environmentally conscious. I’m not exactly a tree-hugger, but I strive to be as eco-friendly as I can.

The car, and all other forms of personal, commercial and public transport, should have migrated to alternate forms of propulsion decades ago.

The electric car has been around since the early 19th Century, but the issue that has stifled it’s progression to the mainstream has been range, or lack there of.

This lack of ability to travel long distance is still a problem it faces today.

The internal combustion engine was the fix to this issue. It can go further, and when it ran out of propellant energy, it was quick and easy to replenish.

The electric car had no hope, and like all decisions in the automotive world, it was sidelined for the short-term solution.

Thomas Parker’s electric car of 1895

When the fossil-fuel-burning engine was conceived, the damage it would cause was unknown, but this shortsightedness stifled the development of electric or alternative methods of propulsion for decades.

Now, thankfully, the industry is being forced into change by legislation. The success the major manufacturers have achieved selling millions of polluting machines, will now be used to develop the cleaner, greener modes of transport. Well, if you ignore the fact it's quite a dirty process to make a battery.

The digital age has seen the greatest rate of progression in probably all of history though; and things evolve in the blink of an eye. Battery technology will develop fast, because it has to.

The Tesla Model 3 is an example of the fast progression of the electric car when push comes to shove

I’m hoping the industry is wiser this time around however. Batteries and electricity are the better way now, for sure, but they still use a lot of energy and natural resources to produce.

The next step is alternate fuel, and although it’s tricky to package, hydrogen fuel cells are the ultimate end goal.

They will feel more like the car we know and love today, and all they take in is hydrogen, and all they let out is water vapour.

No need to mine resources for batteries, and no need to charge them up, you just fill up and go. So I truly hope the motor industry doesn’t sit on it’s electrical laurels, and continues to strive for the next big change. Hydrogen is complicated now, but constant progress and development will change that.

Either way, the pleasure of driving will still exist, as long as humans are still allowed to do it themselves. Autonomy, again, is a great technology, but it should remain optional, we don’t want a total rise of the machines.

The Honda Clarity hydrogen car has been with us for several years now, proving fuels cells are not as far fetched as we think.

No matter what cars are powered by, the tactile sensations will remain, how it feels to steer and corner, how it feels to accelerate and brake, to lean on a cars limits. To go where you want, when you want.

Once the car lives on, and the monkey behind the wheel is in control of it, I don’t care what propels it, once it’s clean. My passion will remain, and I’ll celebrate it’s existence forever more.