The automotive industry is changing. It needs to change. Electrification is the future. Internal combustion engines will eventually go the way of the dodo bird, though not by 2032 as Mr. Opportunism himself, Boris Johnson, speculates. We will, though no one knows quite how or when, have to eliminate — or at least drastically reduce — the amount of carbon dioxide our cars emit and, as a consequence, the amount of gasoline we consume.

The problem is the polemics impeding progress. For every new electric vehicle sold, 10 gas-guzzling pickups fly off dealer lots. Impassioned Greta Thunberg followers make headlines; the silent majority buys ever-larger SUVs. One government, Norway, goes all in on EVs; another, the largest economy in the world, is seemingly doing everything it can to hinder progress. The discussion of how to make automobiles greener has become laced with invective, prognostications of doom and the propagation of diametrically opposed extremes. We need to do better. We all need to do better.

Climate change deniers need to get with the program. Anyone thinking the status quo — that would be our almost complete reliance on fossil fuels for private transportation — will remain indefinitely is dreaming in Technicolor. Scientists would seem to agree we’re emitting more carbon dioxide and that temperatures are rising. You might think those two are unrelated — that Earth’s warming is simply cyclical — but evidence suggests this current cycle is more dramatic than those past. So, even if our current warming phase is partly periodic, denying that we humans are contributing to the problems is a sticking of one’s head in sand too far. Personally, I am a believer in Occam’s razor; when one is unsure of the exact nature of a problem, it’s always smart to err on the side of caution.

Climate change extremists need to stop shouting. Every time you call the climate change problem a “crisis,” every time you say all gasoline cars need to be banned in the next 10 years, and every time you prognosticate that we’ll eventually have to give up all forms of personal transportation, it’s too much like Chicken Little screaming the sky is falling. Activism used to reward extremism, the pushing of a cause eventually resulting in a compromise that advanced an agenda. Now, all it does is reinforce resistance. Look at the United States, the most important nation to convince to reduce its environmental impact: Your complete intransigence has done nothing other than set back progress in automotive emissions for at least the next five years; possibly even the next 10 if the Democrats don’t stop their infighting.

Traditional automakers need to up their game. First, you gave Tesla a head start. Then, after years of standing on the sidelines, you finally — as in, after a trillion useless board meetings and conferences — decided to get with the program and build competing EVs. How’s that working out for you? In fact, you’ve all been huge disappointments. You have years of engineering experience to call on, suppliers and consultants just chomping at the bit to help you develop new, ground-breaking technologies and what have you come up with? With possible exception of Porsche’s Taycan — and it will remain a bit player thanks to traditional Porsche pricing — your supposedly ready-to-compete EVs have been disheartening; I’m looking at you Audi and Jaguar. Analysts such as myself may decry the cultism that surrounds Elon Musk, but you’ve all failed to match Tesla’s battery efficiency. If these last few years really do represent your best efforts, then you’re in exactly the dire straits Tesla investors proclaim.

Tesla fanatics need to become at least familiar with reality. The world will not be a better place if all future cars are made by Tesla; you just have to look at the crap General Motors put out when it enjoyed half of North America’s market share to see the downside of hegemony. Tesla will not become more successful if you continue to forgive, rationalize, and excuse Mr. Musk’s every bad behaviour. He came close to a mental breakdown last year; lose Lord Elon and I suspect Tesla will fall flat on its face. Most importantly, you need to stop this preoccupation with batteries. Yes, some day all vehicles will be electric. But insisting that everything be battery-powered is a noose that will constrict advancement. The future will be, at least partially…

Fuel-cell-powered. Argue all you want that all passenger vehicles will be battery-powered — I believe at least some, if not many, of future cars will be FCEVs — but anyone thinking batteries will be up to long-distance commercial haulage has been smoking way too much ganja. The trucking industry already suffers from low profit margins. Forcing them to dump half their loads and spend five times longer “refueling” is to condemn them to insolvency or force huge — hell, immense — inflationary pressures on consumer goods. Fuel-cells are the only near-term solution for coast-to-coast haulage. Climate change extremists can’t, on one hand, claim that doom is imminent and then advocate we wait 30 years until batteries are sufficiently practical for 18-wheelers. Besides, do you really think that transport ships and jumbo jets are going to be battery powered?

Toyota needs to up its ante. The most likely candidate to lead us into a (partially) hydrogen-fuelled future is Toyota, the world’s most successful automaker. It already has FCEVs for sale, its research (at the Port of Los Angeles, for instance) is extensive, and the company is committed to building a hydrogen-powered “city” in Japan as proof of concept. Still, it needs to do better. Tesla has proved that one of the most important — if not the most important — criteria for early adoption is sufficient infrastructure. Credit where it’s due, Mr. Musk understood that if he built it, they would come. Toyota needs to do the same. It certainly has the money. Reports late last year had the Japanese giant sitting on a horde of cash totalling almost US$40 billion. So, Toyota, if you really want the Mirai to challenge Tesla, you’re going to have to put your money where your fuel cell is.

Consumers need to start acting responsibly. Gas is cheap, interest rates are low, so it’s pretty much damn the environment, full speed ahead. Despite all the headlines of an electric revolution, the biggest news in the auto industry is how big, how popular, and how inefficient our automotive fleets have become. Trucks and SUVs now make up 75 per cent of North American sales. The result is that, despite decades of the increased efficiency of the internal combustion engine, the fuel economy of the average car on the street has not improved in years. Consumers love to blame car companies for their lack of action on the environment. I suggest they need to look in the mirror for the real culprit.

As I said, we all need to do better.

LISTEN: Are you a ‘garage orphan?’ You might be one and not even know it. Listen to today’s Plugged In episode with LeadingAhead Energy’s Maxime Charron, one of the country’s leading experts on charging station infrastructure, and you’ll find out what a garage orphan is, along with the current situation in Canada for strata owners who want to set up a charging network at their building. Max will also explain how many strata councils are receiving misleading information about their options to go electric.

Plugged In is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, and Google Podcasts.

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