Once again, some great thought provoking thoughts here. My $0.02 on some things (sorry, it's longer than expected): - Motorsports: Agree completely on the boring. I think the focus for consumers has shifted to convenience technology rather than outright performance. Infotainment systems have no relevance to a quick lap time, so manufacturers don't feel the need for investment. Combine that with the cost to develop and even greater cost to develop a winner and the ROI just isn't there. I think electrification could be the only savior to this. If manufacturers can develop real-world advances in battery, charging, and other technologies at a reasonable ROI in racing, then that can, hopefully, carry over to showrooms. - Electrification: Your truism about gas prices and vehicle diversity is apt. I think EV's will cause something similar. The biggest hurdle is the infrastructure, but the use of that infrastructure is completely different than the current one for petroleum. Typical use of EV's will be to charge at home, if available, with an already well established and subsidized infrastructure. The traditional "station" will only be of use for long haul trips. Instead of "stations" the charging infrastructure needs to include a long term parking element for apartment/condo dwellers in large cities. A huge obstacle is just who pays for this. As of right now the auto industry is heavily investing and subsidizing this, which is adding to the high cost of the current EV's on the market (see Baruth's article on the Mach E). If the utilities themselves would pick up and run with the infrastructure the cost could be taken from the vehicles and split over a much larger group of users. But the catch 22 of this is two-fold: Utilities are already heavily subsidized and it would require wide adoption of standardized charging methods. - McCluggage's quote is great. - Auto Journalism: I've found myself switching from allegiance to publications to allegiance to writers. Hence, why I am even aware that Hagerty has an entertainment section. I followed Mr. Baruth here from R&T and you followed, so I'm all set here (also found some others that I'm warming to here as well). Also might have to take an interest in UTV's just so I can keep reading Mr. Bowman's writing.
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