Yamaha Marine U.S. Business Unit president Ben Speciale participated in a panel discussion focusing on achieving carbon neutrality at the 2024 Pebble Beach Classic Car Forum on Aug. 15. The panel included representatives from the automotive and oil/fuel industries and the participants unanimously agreed that a “one size fits all” electric approach is not viable.

“Electric is a specific technology,” Speciale told Trade Only Today in a phone conversation on Aug. 29. Of the panel, he said, “They’re looking at it from the consumer use pattern. In our industry and the automotive industry, at many levels, it’s about how a product provides a value to the consumer.”

In addition to Speciale, the panel included: Jim Baumbick, vice president of product development at Ford Motor Company; Cooper Erickson, senior vice president, product BEV and mobility planning strategy, Toyota Motor North America; Tracey Gardiner, vice president American lubricants for Chevron and Mike Spagnola, president/CEO at SEMA. Richard Varner, chairman of the board of directors for the Petersen Museum, moderated the discussion.

As part of the Advanced Clean Cars II regulations, the state of California has a mandate in place requiring all passenger cars, trucks and SUVs sold within the state will be zero-emissions by 2035. To date, 16 states have followed suit, declaring the end of internal combustion engine car sales by the end of 2035. “The panel discussion called for greater need for legislative education about the issues these mandates create for consumers and businesses alike,” organizers said in a statement.

Speciale said that while the marine and automotive and oil industries are different, they have similarities in how new technological challenges are approached and applied. The panel members discussed the opportunities that are nearly immediate with sustainable fuels and hybrid solutions.

“That was probably the biggest set of discussions,” said Speciale. “I liked the discussion around understanding the full carbon footprint.”

The panelists said that the approach to carbon neutrality needs to change the viewpoint of looking at what’s coming out of the exhaust tip to understanding the carbon footprint of a vehicle or vessel from the time it’s built.

“The North Star for us is what does the customer want and how do we reduce carbon,” said Toyota’s Erickson. “Developing a car is the ultimate art of compromise.”

For clarity, he said that Toyota’s research has shown that plug-in hybrids reduce emissions by 56% while fully electric vehicles reduce it by about 60%.

“It’s important to think about (carbon neutrality) as a portfolio of solutions,” said Ford’s Baumbick. “The mission is clear to reduce carbon emissions. The question is ‘How do you get there in a sustainable, continuous way to make progress toward that mission?’.”

He added that customers will be incentivized when the see the value of a technology. For example, a Ford F150 Lighting electric pickup can be used in place of a gas-powered generator, which reduces emissions in a different way.

Gardiner said that the oil/gas industry and the automobile manufacturers need to “move somewhat in synchronization to maintain an affordable supply.” She continued, “You can’t make a car if no one buys it and you can’t make a lot of fuel if there are no cars that run on it.”

Chevron has invested in renewable diesel and gasoline that can be delivered almost immediately, which would have real-time impacts for the vehicles burning them. “There are so many trucks on the road today that could run on renewable diesel, so it’s a drop-in solution,” said Gardiner.

Of course, the technology doesn’t matter if the consumer isn’t interested in it. “Americans vote with their wallet and we think there should be choice about which vehicles they drive,” said SEMA’s Spagnola.

Speciale said that cross-industry collaboration is needed to get the infrastructure to the point where it can deliver sustainable fuels to consumers.

“I think it’s all part of the solution,” he said. “We need to keep finding that common ground and educating people on all the technologies. We have to study long-term potential solutions, but if you want to lower carbon, the quickest thing to do is hybrids or sustainable fuels.”

Interestingly, when the panel discussion concluded, the members didn’t want to go check out the classic cars on display on the beach. They wanted to see a vehicle that Yamaha had on site. “They wanted to go for a ride in the hydrogen golf cart,” Speciale chuckled.