Equally frustrating, he added, is those working to refine ICE vehicles are often painted as anti-EV and anti-environment. But that stereotype doesn't fit many like Lehn, who loves performance and technology across the board.
"I think that EVs have a prominent place in our future," he observed. "I also think hybrid vehicles are an incredibly sustainable solution versus plug-ins or pure battery electric vehicles. I think the BEV is going to be an incredibly wonderful solution for urban and metropolitan scenarios for lowering noise pollution, smog and things like that."
Taking the Long View
In fact, many of the aftermarket's biggest players have programs for a variety of propulsion systems.
"From MAHLE's perspective, having the dual strategy that we do allows us to be on the cutting edge of everything that's going on with electric," said Joe Maylish, sales and program manager for the MAHLE Motorsports North American division. "We are a transportation company, and we're on the cutting edge of ICE, and we're right there learning and being on the cutting edge of electric."
Maylish points to the recent GM introduction of a new small-block Chevrolet engine as a sign of ICE viability. "You know, that takes a lot of commitment and a lot of belief. And they have a lot of very smart people working over there that are looking ahead in the future of what's going to be the best mobility out there for the customer."
Moreover, he sees motorsports as the ideal proving ground for engineering innovations that can make ICE vehicles leaner and greener---and there are plenty of ICE components to work on.
"Within motorsports, [MAHLE is] still actively working with OEs to manufacture pistons and rings for their programs," he noted. "It seems that [work] has been maintaining and not decreasing in volume---so we're very happy to see that."
Nor should anyone underestimate the industry's ability to rise to environmental challenges. "Just think about a diesel engine in the 1970s and its efficiency compared to what we have today, with so many more of them in operation, and just how much cleaner they are and how much more efficient they are," he remarked.
According to Jack Roush Jr., ROUSH Performance vice president of marketing, his company has also taken a diversified approach to vehicle propulsion for some time now. While ROUSH is well known for its performance division, its biggest business is the engineering services it provides to major automotive brands, the military and other industries.
"Along with our IC engine development, which we're very well known for, we've been in the EV space for 20 plus years, and alternative fuels as well," he explained.
In the latter category, the ROUSH Cleantech product division produces propane conversion kits to help fleets lower their emissions." Those are primarily for school buses and delivery vehicles," he said, noting there is a new propane fuel coming out for such ICE applications. "It's cleaner, that is, even when comparing it to EV, it does an even better job."
On the performance side, Roush said the company continues to refine supercharging and other technologies requiring California Air Resources Board (CARB) certification. "Thinking about the future for automotive, things are becoming more difficult because of certification and the complexity of vehicles," he conceded. "We could look at that and think there's not much opportunity. But I think there's tremendous opportunity for bringing performance to vehicles."
"I'm very passionate about the gas engine myself," Roush declared. "There's a certain life that a breathing engine that gets its power from explosions has---it's almost like a living animal… It will be interesting to see how the enthusiast culture changes over time. Will they adapt more? I think it's a little premature to say which way it's going to go."
SEMA Director of Vehicle Technology Luis Morales closely monitors trends across various automotive segments. He said the trucking industry is increasingly exploring hydrogen technologies as more viable alternatives to electrification.
"They understand that you can't run multiple applications in their industry with batteries," he observed. "When you talk about the amount of battery power that they would require, the storage for those batteries, and then the payloads placed on top of that, it just doesn't make sense. And you would need so much infrastructure for their routes to make it happen."
He added that hydrogen technologies can be found in both EV and ICE applications. "In terms of a fuel cell, it's really using hydrogen to power an electric motor. And then you look at other work that's being done on the hydrogen front, like internal-combustion engines run by hydrogen. Your output there is only water with some NOx due to heat. But nonetheless, we could still progress into the future with internal-combustion engines, making them cleaner."
"For shorter routes, EV makes sense for passenger vehicles," Morales predicted, agreeing with the other sources that SEMA News interviewed for this story. "But for other needs you have to look at other options, like hydrogen technology, that can take you across the country and not have to rely so much on infrastructure. I think at the end of the day, it's going to be a really nice balance between all of the different options that are out there."
If you're in a heavily urbanized and regulated region like California, it's easy to get the impression the automotive landscape is rapidly electrifying, mused Nolan Browning, Motul North American marketing manager. "But I think once you branch outside of the big cities, it's pretty apparent that while growing for sure, EVs are a small percentage. Combustion is still being used pretty heavily."
"In motorsports too, which has always been our background and focus, I think there's always going to be a demand for [ICE] racing," he continued. "I think there will be a world, obviously, with electrification and testing that technology in motorsports. But especially in the vintage races which we're all involved with, the hobby is not going to go away. There's still going to be gasoline certainly for the next several decades."
Abby Andrews