The future of vehicles is a conundrum. Cars will soon drive themselves, according to the public pronouncements of most major companies.

Yet some insiders in those very companies privately suspect they’ll never sell a truly autonomous car in their lifetime. Some leading engineers believe we are five years away from the tipping point for electric cars, at which point the petrol car will no longer make financial sense and will quickly fade away. Others – including BMW board member Klaus Fröhlich – calls that “a little bit irrational”, saying an electric car can never be as cheap as a conventional car.