Some Dubious Advice from the AltCarExpo

I always look forward to the AltCarExpo in Santa Monica each year. It’s rather like one of the major auto shows, but without all the flashing lights, loud noises, “booth-babes” – and, more to the point, all the gas- and diesel-powered cars and trucks. Though generally dominated by electric vehicles, the Expo contemplates all the alternative fuels: hydrogen, CNG, propane, and half a dozen others; it’s more than worth a visit if you’re in the area.

A local radio station, Pasadena’s NPR affiliate KPPC, did a live remote from the Expo, on which a few of my friends in this space were interviewed, taking calls from folks all over Southern California. Here was one that I found most interesting:

Caller: I notice that there are a dozen-or-so alternative fuels. Isn’t it unrealistic to replace one fuel type with dozens? Won’t there eventually be a winner?

Answer Summary: I hope not. We need to have all these – and more – represented in the mix.

No offense, but this is totally misguided. The caller obviously has thought this through far better than the panelist, the latter suggesting that our civilization develop a dozen different sets of infrastructure for fueling our automobiles – something which clearly won’t happen — now, or ever.

As the only winners in the status quo, I’m sure the oil companies love this response. I can hear them saying, “Sure, you alt-fuel guys, build a mechanism for delivering hydrogen around our 3.5 million square mile landmass in the continental U.S. That should only take 30 years or so – that is, from the time the public coffers are again ripe with cash. And at the same time, build a parallel system for natural gas, fast-charging electric vehicles, and a few others. Sounds perfectly feasible to us!  Drop us a note in a few decades and let us know how it’s coming along.”

Building the EV charging infrastructure will take an uncommon – perhaps even unprecedented — level of cooperation between public and private enterprises and institutions. Meaning? This will be difficult. Want to make it impossible? Easy. Just stimulate competition between dozens of different technologies.