Disneyland plans to electrify Autopia cars. Will that teach kids to love EVs? | Opinion

At last, Disneyland plans to trade in those outdated, exhaust-spewing, gas-powered Autopia cars for more environmentally friendly models better suited to the Happiest Place on Earth.

Plans are still as hazy as the cloud of smog over Autopia, and there’s no word on whether the next generation of kid-sized cars will be electric, hybrid or powered by pixie dust.

Nor is there a firm date. A spokesperson merely confirmed that the park has “developed a roadmap to electrify this attraction” in the next few years.

But the long-overdue change is coming, and let’s hope Disney sticks to its timeline, especially when you consider that Autopia is located in Tomorrowland.

That section should be a hub of innovation — not a nostalgic trip back to the 1950s when the park was in its infancy, “freeways” were just ramping up and terms like “climate change” and “greenhouse gases” were a looming nightmare for future generations.

Why now

Now-quaint Autopia is as old as the park itself — almost 70 — and for most of that time, oil companies have been the driving force behind the attraction. Richfield Oil, which later merged with other companies to become ARCO, was the original sponsor. Chevron took over in 1998, followed by the current sponsor, Honda, in 2016.

Honda replaced engines with cleaner, more efficient models, according to Los Angeles Times columnist Sammy Roth. But the iconic attraction looks — and smells — much the same, which is perfectly OK with some Disney fans who would prefer to see Autopia left as is.

“I’m fine with it going electric,” one posted on Reddit, “but honestly would hope they’d do some kind of olfactory trick that would make it smell the same.”

Converting to EVs or hybrids is the right move for a few reasons.

It’s what Walt Disney — a master innovator — would have wanted.

It’s better for public health — especially for the Disney “cast members” forced to breathe in noxious fumes for hours.

And it’s good PR for electric vehicles, which Americans have been slow to embrace.

Kids introduced to EVs at Disneyland may be more inclined to accept them as the new normal. They might even nag their parents to buy them.

EVs could use some love right now. According to a recent Gallup poll, their popularity is waning.

The percentage of Americans who say they will not buy an EV is now 48% compared to 41% in 2023. In other words, nearly half of Americans say they will never, ever buy an EV.

The lack of charging infrastructure may have a lot to do with that, but demographics play a role as well. It should surprise no one that the young and the affluent are most open to buying EVs, but political ideology is the strongest determiner.

Gallup reported that 72% of respondents who identified as conservative said they would not purchase an electric car, compared to just 25% of liberals.

Expert: GOP shuns electric cars ‘at their peril’

Is there a way to “convert” conservatives?

Michael Murphy, a well-known Republican political consultant, believes there is. He co-founded the EV Politics Project, which seeks to “bridge the political divide” between Republicans and Democrats.

Murphy has a simple explanation for why Republicans don’t like EVs: “It’s tribal,” he wrote in an op-ed for Politico. “In our modern politics any friend of my enemy must be my enemy too. If Joe Biden is for EVs, we must be against them.”

To counter that, he offers a persuasive argument: Jobs in the EV manufacturing industry are located primarily in swing states.

“If the GOP wants to declare war on the largest source of new manufacturing jobs in the most important electoral states, they do so at their peril,” he warned.

That is sound logic, though threats are not the best way to win hearts and minds.

What we need is a more positive approach.

If we really want to do right by the planet — not to mention the humans who inhabit it — we’ve got to market EVs as sleek, fun and futuristic.

Disney can do that for the young drivers of tomorrow who visit the Magic Kingdom, because Autopia’s gas-powered go-karts are no longer a vision of the future.

They are a relic of Yesterdayland.