‘What are you afraid of’ with EVs, leader asks

There seems to be a lot of angst or nervousness among many, including the automotive aftermarket, when it comes to electric vehicles and Gino Amador can’t comprehend why.

The president of Snap-on Equipment told MEMA Aftermarket Suppliers Vision Conference in Chicago this year that he doesn’t see EVs as a problem to the industry. He’s all for electrification. He told the audience that as a child growing up in Mexico, he could lick his lips and taste the emissions. “I want these to happen,” he said.

So when he hears the negative response to the technology, he wonders why.

“But what are you afraid of? That the world is going to become Norway or California? Norway is not the Norway you think it is. Norway has the trifecta,” he said during the Supplier Pain Points: A CEO Panel session.

Amador pointed out that the Nordic country is one of the first movers in electrification. They set up a large network of chargers, for example. “Try buying 20,000 charge stations today. Not going to happen. The lead time is simply not there,” he observed.

Norway is one of the richest countries in the world, Amador noted, and gets 99 per cent of its energy from hydro. “So they can actually raise their hand and say, ‘We make electricity cleanly.’ No one else can do that.”

That said, Amador does see a little bit of a problem in California. If the goal is to have a certain number of electric vehicles, then there needs to be a certain number of charging stations. Globally, there are about six million EVs with about 1 million charging stations. That’s about California’s goal for 2030. But zoning and permits take time, he observed.

“Those goalposts are going to get moved,” Amador predicted.