Nobody loves the internal combustion automobile more than Jay Leno, it’s fair to say. But he says its days are numbered.
Jay Leno, former longtime host of The Tonight Show and the current star of Jay Leno’s Garage, might be as well known these days for his world-class car collection as for his stand-up comedy chops. A true hands-on, skinned-knuckles car guy, Leno is noted for his deep knowledge of steam cars, Duesenbergs, Lamborghinis, and vintage British motorcycles, to name a few of his areas of expertise. He loves the old machines with all his heart, no question about it.
So it must have come as quite a shock to many of his fellow classic car enthusiasts when, in a recent interview, Leno volunteered his prediction about the future of the piston-powered automobile: Essentially, it has none, he said. “Electric is the future,” Leno flatly asserts. “There’s almost no reason to have a gas car, unless you’re doing long haul duty,” says the veteran comic, who wheels a Tesla as his daily driver.
Leno’s views aren’t so earth-shaking, really. You will hear the same forecasts in corporate boardrooms around the world, as the major automakers and their suppliers push in all their chips to invest in electric vehicle development. But traditional car enthusiasts have been slower to see the EV future, so it was quite an earful to hear one of their own singing the praises of the electric car. Here’s Leno himself in the video below.
If the want to get a clearer view of EV future they should test them during the winter in North Dakota, Minn., Maine or upstate NY. All the glowing comments come from warmer climes.
With our electrical grid being stressed to the breaking now, and new powerplants tied up over environmental concerns, how are we going to charge millions of cars? Somebody didn’t think this through.
I use my solar panels to power my car. Not a bad idea to use renewable energy. Better than dirty oil.
Leno drives a Tesla? Among with about a 100 petrol powered cars both modern and classic. And yes a electric toy is only good for local driving. Huge problem!!
And as others have said the world already has an electricity shortage and with all the trendys making it more expensive by the day. He should come to South Oz where we had a statewide blackout and after a huge amount of money to make the network ‘safe’ the only reason it has some degree of reliability is all those big companies using lots of electricity have gone elsewhere.The entire automotive industry, most white goods, as well as clothing.
Electric cars are the newest fad. Remember back in the 80’s when diesels were going to save the world? Everybody started putting diesels in, then all the sudden, no you can’t use a diesel without all this emissions crap all over it that does away with the tailpipe emissions, then the fuel mileage went to crap as well as the longevity of the engines. It’s the same with electric, they look good on paper, but fall short in the real world. The recharging infrastructure isn’t there yet, and won’t be for years. They might be fine for city dwellers who might drive 25 or 30 miles a day total, but rural American drivers sometimes drive more than that one way to work. In cities there may be many charging stations, in rural areas, one every 100 miles? And who wants to sit 3-4 hours waiting on their electric car to recharge?
One of these days before long some whizz kid is going to figure out that it doesn’t add up as we’re being told now. A complete switch over from fossil fuels to electric will take at least 50 years, maybe 75 or a 100. And even at that, you can’t ban fossil oils, there will still be the need for lubrication, synthetics can’t do it all. This bill of goods being sold now is the same snake oil we’ve been sold before, just a different flavor. Until the electric grid is totally rebuilt to cover the added strain of a totally electric transportation sector, it will never be more than a passing fad for the green weenies.
IN NW Pa. we have cold, and dark and snow about 5 months a year. Your electric whizbang car with lights on, heater, and defroster, rear defrost, radio windshield wipers and other stuff stuck in a traffic jam will quickly deplete the battery. And when the cars use all the electric generated by the gas we heat our homes with, wait til you see the cost to heat your house. And how are we going to get the tax for the roads when you charge at home?
Does anyone have an idea on how to force a realistic evaluation of the feasibility of an EV
and the cost of converting the infrastructure to support to support a EV in all 50 states?
I am getting a feeling this is being treated the same way as alcohol being added to gasoline, the world thru rose colored glasses.