The automotive industry’s technological revolution is a step towards safer and cleaner motoring, but is it the beginning of the end for affordable personal mobility? FW editor-in-chief Alex Grant ponders..

FW editor-in-chief Alex Grant

The Welsh government is reducing almost all urban speed limits from 30mph to 20mph in September – and it’s starting on my doorstep. I’ve had just over a year of figuring out which areas of Cardiff are guinea-pigging that process and it’s been an interesting edge case for recent test cars too.

Last July, the European Commission mandated a suite of safety tech that is mandatory for all new vehicle type approvals and it’ll apply to all registrations two years later. Brexit means the UK doesn’t have to follow suit, but the Government has indicated that it will adopt those rules word-for-word, which makes some sense. However, that baseline level of technology can be tricky to get right in the more cost-focused vehicles.

For example, Intelligent Speed Assist is one of the mandated features. It either warns drivers of local speed limits or intervenes if they’re exceeding them – ideally by cross-checking mapped speed limit zones with road signs spotted by its forward-facing camera. However, over-the air updates and high-res cameras are easier costs to swallow on a premium SUV than a cheap city car, so the rules include some flexibility in terms of hardware, a margin of error and keeping the driver responsible for watching the road.

The initiative gives rise to some irritating quirks, especially when a local authority changes its speed limits. One of Cardiff’s main roads had been a 30mph dual carriageway, followed by a 40mph zone with a speed camera. But both limits have now been reduced by 10mph. Using outdated map data, one recent test car’s navigation system warned me I was approaching a 40mph speed camera. Its driver display was, simultaneously, telling me the same road had a 20mph limit, because it’s linked to the car’s forward-facing camera, which hadn’t seen the 30mph sign. That’s a route to irreversible distrust.

Unfortunately, despite high expectations, you get what you pay for. Dacia, for example, received weeks of negative press after its seven-seat Jogger crossover scored only one star in Euro NCAP testing last year. Some of that criticism is justified (curtain airbags and seatbelt warnings for row three feel like corners that weren’t worth cutting), but the Jogger also haemorrhaged points by only meeting the minimum requirements for safety assistance. Reality check: headline-grabbing pricing comes at a cost.

Safety isn’t the only contributing factor. The combustion engine isn’t bowing out gently. We now know what will be required to comply with Euro 7 regulations, including tighter emission limits with longer-lasting hardware that can be monitored, and the UK is likely to at least mimic those standards. Several manufacturers have suggested the European Commission’s projected €50-150 per-car price rise is unrealistic – and it’s also hard to swallow in margin-squeezed small cars. They’re arguably the cars we need the most at the moment, if we’re looking to cut CO2 emissions.

Meanwhile, BloombergNEF analysis shows a combination of inflation and a demand/supply imbalance for EVs caused lithium-ion battery prices to rise last year – for the first time in a decade – and there are some important gaps in market. The excellent MG4 is proof that strong-value, long-range EVs are already with us, but affordable electric options for families of five or more are still limited in a market saturated with four-and-a-half seat SUVs.

Consider this: if the only reasonably priced electric MPVs come with a big range compromise, then who can blame families for considering something older and dirtier to stay mobile?

Ultimately, cars have given us a century of increasingly accessible personal mobility and – although breaking some of that dependence is unquestionably healthy – it would be a shame if regular motorists were priced out of the benefits of safer and more sustainable vehicles. The warning signs are already there.