The Birmingham skies outside Lucy's maisonette are beginning to colour with the promise of another beautiful day. Their vibrancy matches her mood and the excitement she feels at the prospect of today's site visit to the newest Scottish wave farm.

The remote location means that Lucy has decided to drive, but she would have to admit that the joy of driving her new car might also have something to do with it. But it's not as if the car will be empty. She's a member of the national community courier scheme and will be transporting a number of small parcels at the same time.

Unlike most people these days, Lucy owns her car - a hydrogen fuel cell vehicle she bought herself as a treat on securing a promotion last year. She used to use CarShare like everyone else, but she has always been fascinated by motors and was willing to sacrifice a big chunk of her personal carbon allowance to buy her own.

In many ways it was a mad decision, but on the other hand there's no denying that it looks amazing, and its latest generation autoconvoy technology makes travelling long distances really relaxing.

She taps in her destination and the central transport network computer calculates the optimal route and journey time. She's in luck - only the first and last few miles of the trip will have to be driven manually - she could hook up with a fast autoconvoy for the rest if she wanted to.

Although she'd like to drive herself, the automated option works best given the reading she has to do. And using the autoconvoy will also give a guaranteed arrival time, and save her carbon through being more efficient. No more stopping and starting as the network expertly manages the vehicle flows.

At the first autoconvoy junction she pulls in behind another car. She switches to automatic and feels the sensors bring her vehicle into line with the one in front. A moment later both vehicles are remotely guided to the rear of the line of passing traffic and for the next 400 miles her car will be sped through the traffic, moving from one autoconvoy to another.

She swivels her seat around and contemplates the documents on the small flip-up desk. Looking at them now, there's maybe not so much preparation as she had thought - plenty of time then to read a bit more of her book, or maybe watch another classic episode or two of Green Wing …