2GreenEnergy at the Advanced Clean Transportation (ACT) Expo

I’m down at the ACT Expo in Long Beach today, duly impressed, as always, with the progress that the world is making in the direction of sustainable transportation.

Of course, most of what we see here are vehicles that are for sale/lease, or will be soon.  Every major auto OEM that expects to be here in 10 years has a robust EV program, since the migration from fossil fuels is pretty much written in concrete to this point, and they’re anxious to show off their commitment to innovation in this exciting space.

What would scare the bejeepers out of me, if I were a major stakeholder in any of the vehicle-based companies, is the antithesis of vehicle ownership, i.e., mobility as a service–soon to be autonomous/ride sharing, car sharing, and just an overall reduction in VMT (vehicle miles traveled) due to the changing lifestyle of young people.

It’s great to hear that Ford Motors say that they’re in the “mobility business,” until one realizes that they do about $160 billion in annual revenues, and then do a bit of mental math and calculate how many Uber/Lyft rides are required to make that happen.  Yikes.