Despite all of this backtracking, EV development is going forward, while some manufacturers are placing huge bets on the technology (See Toyota in “On The Table.” -WG) And right on cue, costs to actually produce EVs are decreasing, as the electric technology catches up with rapid improvements in battery development.
The noble notion of “affordable” EVs – except for a few instances – is still a couple of years away. The latest exception, however, being the Chevrolet Bolt, which is good to have back in the fray. The concept of “affordability” – something I’ve been writing about for four years now – is the focus for all of these manufacturers right now. They get it, all of a sudden, with promised real-world, in-market vehicles coming to market in 2027 and more in 2028. (A GM insider pointed out to me that the automaker sold 700,000 vehicles under $30,000 in 2025, something that hasn’t been widely reported.)
But in spite of all of this
Sturm und Drang, I’m here to remind everyone that the automobile is still an integral part of who we are, and there is no indication that this idea is cooling in the least. It’s as if we have rediscovered – at least in some quarters – that our American mobility culture that has powered this country for 125 years is still vibrant and alive.
The idea of finding yourself in the great outdoors or taking that one grand road trip you’ve been promising yourself for years is a Real Thing still. In fact, I have to laugh at this industry’s frantic product and marketing push to produce off-road ready machines of all stripes, even though the most challenging trek they will embark on is to the Costco Canyons or the Home Depot foothills.
One refreshing development? It seemed like just yesterday that we were being inundated with tales of how ride sharing would rule our immediate future and autonomous pod cars that could be summoned at our whims would be
de rigueur in the not-too-distant future. The anti-car zealots were rubbing their hands with glee at the imminent demise of the automobile, because those evil mobility devices responsible for all of the world’s sins – both real and imagined – would soon be relegated to the dustbin of history. But this just in: the driverless car movement will exist in controlled environments only, because it’s the only way it can survive.
I think it’s a good time to take a look at our car culture and ask a few pertinent questions.
How did the car “thing” evolve from desiring faster horses, to the building of transportation that transformed the world? What propelled the automobile from being an extravagant convenience, to a cultural touchstone that’s such an inexorable part of the American fabric that even the most hostile of the anti-car hordes can’t seem to dampen our collective enthusiasm for it? Is it the fashion statement? The fundamental sense of motion and speed? The image-enhancing power that automobiles possess? Or all of the above?
If anything, I keep going back to the one thing that’s undeniable about our collective love for the automobile, the one thing that no computer simulation – no matter how powerful or creatively enhanced – can compete with. And that is
the freedom of mobility.
The ability to go and do, coupled with the freedom to explore and experience, is not only a powerful concept, it is fundamental to the human experience, which is why the automobile in all of its forms remains so compelling and undeniably intoxicating.
That the automobile has progressed from a device built around convenience and comfort into something more,
much more, is easy to understand. That rush of freedom that we all experienced in our first solo drive in an automobile is something that cannot be duplicated or brushed aside. It is ingrained in our spirit and etched in our souls.
I have talked to the most strident anti-car people over the years, and they love to say, “I’m not into cars,” but it’s weird, because inevitably, after acknowledging that it’s fine that they don’t share my passion for the automobile, something very interesting happens.
If the conversation is allowed to percolate long enough, every single anti-car person I have encountered in the 26.5 years of doing Autoextremist.com comes around to saying something like, “Well, there was this one car that my uncle (or aunt, or friend, or brother, or mom, or dad, or grandfather, etc.) had that I’ll never forget…” And they then proceed to tell me about a car that is so indelibly carved in their memories that they start talking about it in detail, including where they were, how old they were, who was with them, where they were going, what happened, etc., etc. For even those most dispassionate about the automobile – at least on the surface anyway – I find there are always stories if you dig a little deeper. Stories of coming of age, of adventure, of harrowing close calls, of love, and life and lives lived. And memories. Countless, colorful memories that live on forever.The automobile business itself can be mind-numbingly tedious at times, as I’ve well documented over the years. And it is without question one of the most complicated endeavors on earth, made up of so many nuanced ingredients that it almost defies description. But the creation of machines that are safe, reliable, beautiful to look at, fun to drive, versatile or hard working – depending on the task they’re designed for – is more than just a cold, calculated business. It is and has been an industrial art form that has come to define who we are collectively.The automobile obviously means more to me than it does for most. I grew up immersed in this business, and the passionate endeavor surrounding the creation of automotive art has never stopped being interesting for me. And it is very much art, by the way. Emotionally involving and undeniably compelling mechanical art that not only takes us where we want to go but moves us in ways that still touch our souls deeply.
As I have reminded everyone often in writing this column, I for one will never forget the essence of the machine, and what makes it a living, breathing mechanical conduit of our hopes and dreams.
On occasion, we’ve run an excerpt from one of our favorite pieces of automotive prose, which poet, critic and Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist, James Agee wrote for the September 1934 issue of
Fortune. You can read the entire passage
here, but this is the part that resonates the most for us:
"Whatever we may think, we move for no better reason than for the plain unvarnished hell of it. And there is no better reason.”No better reason, indeed.
And that’s the High-Octane Truth for this week.
Editor's Note: Click on "Next 1 Entries" at the bottom of this page to see previous issues. - WG