Classic Car EV Conversion - An Evil Necessity (Part 2)

As a kid I was well regaled with the story of King Canute (King Cnut) trying to hold back the tide, convinced that the power invested in him was enough to beat God himself...plausibly we, the classic car community, are also trying to hold back a tide as powerful as the almighty too...

My previous article on Classic Car EV Conversion had a lot of negative feedback. Much parochialism was bared out by responses and a view that I am on the wrong side of the ledger in the classic car community. Let me just say I am not - I love the smell, feel and noise of classic cars with an ICE. I also certainly see their place in our community (and industry) but I also see a tide of emotion against us from keeping all classics with an ICE. I ask are we asleep at the wheel and will our beloved 'every day' ICE classics be washed away by the tide!

Put aside your bias and preference here folks because if there is one thing I learned in doing PESTLE analysis in major corporate organisations is that in the battle of emotion versus logic, emotion inevitably wins out. The emotional tide we are facing against us is coming from people other than Greta et al - its your neighbour, your boss, your colleague, your politicians and even your local GP or dentist. In fact its more of tsunami than a tide!

So what does this tide look like? Well lets take just five seconds to examine the tide of opposition over the last decade in the coal industry and what its been hit with due to 'people power'.

Coal producers can, in real terms, no longer get Government approvals for new mines, processing or handling facilities. They also struggle to get financiers to back them and insurers will not go anywhere near them. Shareholders have pressured major miners to remove coal from their portfolio of operations, and as a result the three largest diversified mining co's have either opted out all together or are removing coal mining as their mines come to the end of their life.

In short, expect this same dynamic to play out in the oil production and refining game over the next decade. In fact its happening right now.

There is however a blinding NARVA light on the horizon in this debate. Recently Saudi Arabia signed into an MOU with China for the development and ultimately the production of hydrogen - as they do not wish to lose their place as the leading oil producer. Okay so some of us may be able to keep our ICE classic - but won't converting your car to hydrogen also diminish its 'classic' status, just like an EV?

Sticking with the 'dodo' ideology for oil for five more seconds; I ask do we have any hope of battling the tide against us? Well here in Australia a couple of Federal Elections we had a motoring enthusiast party, who actually attained a seat in government. Lead by what the general public considered to be a lunatic and ratbag, they actually made sense to car enthusiasts. Sadly they gave up their relevant policies to maintain their seat as they were merged with a party with greater public dismay.

How about peak motoring bodies and councils? Well they seem to promote the idea of old cars, but lets face it they are the function of the largest retail auto insurers and they know their bread is buttered by new cars!

I hope my articles are rattling the sabre for us as a community. I certainly favour doing everything we can to keep classics on the road, especially 'every day' or 'practical' classics...even if this means converting to EV for many!