I'm a shameless petrolhead, with a dilemma

I freely admit to a lifelong passion for motor cars, starting with my father's splendid battleship gray 1949 Rover 14 convertible - why, oh why did he sell it? - and my first car, a beige Morris Minor 1000, 1961 model.

I've come a long way since then, another Morris Minor, a sporty Triumph Herald convertible, various MGB roadsters, a Ford Cortina, a Volvo and then a long love affair with the BMW marque, which endures to this day.

So what's my problem? Well, like many British motorists, we followed the government and the motor industry's fiscal incentives to buy diesel-powered cars. More robust, more kilometers per liter, and according to the advice at the time, less polluting than petrol engines.

So, accordingly, I've ended up with one of my favorite vehicles, a 2005 state-of-the-art Land Rover Discovery. Fabulous to drive long distances, comfortable, rugged and clocking up to 18 km/liter.

Yet now, all of a sudden, the experts are saying diesel is bad, contrary to earlier advice.

Matt Ridley, writing in The Times newspaper, highlights the dilemma.

London's air quality has improved steadily over the past 20 years. The city's PM10, measurement of particles of 10 microns or smaller, is about 20 percent less than it was two decades ago, he wrote. Yet, no diesel would have made the figures even better.

Things in London aren't nearly as bad as in Beijing. As I write (on Feb 20), the real-time PM10 score for the Chinese capital is 76.

Compare that with London's real-time figure of 36.

Obviously, fossil-fuel engines are always going to pollute, and much research is going into "cleaner" fuels.

China's air quality in its cities is obviously one of the spurs to the move toward the country's push to develop hybrid and electric vehicles. BYD, a Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer, is already supplying all-electric buses to London's iconic red double-decker fleets.

If I lived permanently in Beijing, I would obviously have a different viewpoint, but I live in London, where things seem to be looking up.

But for me, range issue is the problem with electric vehicles. Most seem to have a range of about 110 km, and given the paucity of charging points in this country, "range anxiety" is the last thing I need.

Land Rover says it is working on a hybrid model, with a petrol engine combined with electric motors and rechargeable batteries.

But it's likely to cost a fortune and I've never bought a new car, so that's not likely to figure in my plans.

No, I think I will stick with my Land Rover for everyday use.

For weekends, I have a classic, and a rare one at that.

It's a 1993 BMW 5 series Touring, but the difference is it's a four-wheel drive, and they only made 200 of them in right-hand drive form.

Petrol injected, with BMW's smooth 6-cylinder engine providing the power, it's a joy to drive.

So no hybrids in the future for the Peterson fleet.

I told you I was a petrolhead, didn't I?

Contact the writer at chris@mail.chinadailyuk.com