Ford and GM’s top powertrain executives say petrol power will dominate until 2020

The executives not only said petrol power would continue to be used in the future, the representatives even said the technology would remain dominant, occupying around 80 percent of the market.

Ford Motor Co.’s vice president of global powertrain engineering, Barb Samardzich said at the seminar that conventional engines will continue to be on the market in the future. She also said developing and improving petrol power technologies "will be a great career moving forward'.

Executive director of hybrid and electric powertrain engineering for General Motors Co. Larry Nitz also agreed, saying, "The conventional technologies we have today are a clear path through 2016." He also said developing the existing technology used in internal combustion engines has a bright future, saying, "ethanol is the best opportunity for near-term energy diversity, hands down.”

Senior vice president of diesel engineering at Robert Bosch, Johannes-Joerg Rueger even agreed to the predictions, saying around 80 percent of the industry will consist of fuel-powered engines until at least 2020. "I don’t think there will be any radical changes,” he said to reporters at the seminar event.

This is despite the fact that all three companies are working hard at developing hybrid and plug-in hybrid vehicles. It comes as a total surprise as the ongoing trends and fashions of hybrid and electric vehicles escalate. The companies highlight the fact hybrid and EV technology is still in its introductory stage.

Oh well, refueling at the servo will continue to be one of life's greatest annoyances for some time yet.