Suppose I told you that there was a form of transportation that was designed (and operated) so that sitting within inches of yourbody is a power source that relies on explosions, not just a few explosions, but hundreds of controlled explosions per minute, to power the vehicle? And further, suppose I told you that these explosions are fueled by a resource which is limited, flammable, toxic, non-renewable, and causes severe damage to the planet as well as causing significant problems with air quality, as well as contributing greatly to climate change.
You would not get in – or perhaps not even get near - such a vehicle, would you?
But unless you have a Tesla, a Nissan Leaf, or a Toyota Prius, or other electric vehicle, what’s described above is an internal combustion engine (ICE), and it is exactly what is moving you around every single day: cars and buses and SUVs and trucks, powered by a series of rapid explosions powered by a non-renewable, carbon-intense fuel.
If you want to see a really cool video that shows the explosions in super-slow 4K video, check out the below (from YouTube channel Warped Perception)!
All that is happening just a short distance from you. And it's 2017.
Just as it was time to move on from the horse and buggy, it’s time to move on from the internal combustion engine.
Now, as project managers, we use tools such as Earned Value to forecast the future. But sometimes we just have to read the news. A couple of recent news stories about the end-of-the-line for the internal combustion engine recently caught my attention and I hope they get some of yours as well.
I’m recommending that you have this sort of information in mind because what’s coming will affect all of us (since most of us are drivers) even if we are not in the automotive industry. Further, it’s likely that a similar transition of some sort, motivated by social or ecological drivers, is taking place for whatever industry of which you happen to be a part.
Although I have consulted in the automotive industry, it’s not part of my regular work. Still, I find the change that is about to happen to transportation addictively fascinating and applicable as a project manager because it shows how Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Legal, and Environmental (PESTLE) issues really are worth considering in our decision making (and, let’s face it, that’s what projects are all about – many short-fused important, objective-focused decisions). This is especially crucial if you (as I recommend on this blog) are looking not only at your current project’s product but rather the product in operation for many years (benefits realization), and are also looking at projects from the perspective of their portfolio and the overall strategic connection between projects and the enterprise’s mission.
Here are the stories. The first one is a recent announcement by Volvo that they will terminate the manufacture of ICE vehicles by 2019.
"Automaker Volvo says all of its cars launched starting in 2019 will be either electric or hybrids. The decision makes Volvo, which is now owned by Chinese company Geely, the first major auto manufacturer to discontinue its production of gas-only vehicles. The company plans to release three new all-electric cars by 2021. “This announcement marks the end of the solely combustion engine-powered car,” Volvo Cars CEO Hakan Samuelsson said. “Volvo Cars has stated that it plans to have sold a total of one million electrified cars by 2025. When we said it, we meant it."
There’s a short video from Volvo explaining their rationale here.
The second is an article about France banning ICE cars by 2040, which you can find here.
If this interests you at all - and it should - I suggest that you have a look at this 77-page report – a fantastic, well-researched study of the future of transportation. It’s called “Rethink X” and you can find it here.
Note that the “Rethink X” report talks a lot about shared and autonomous vehicles. This, as well as intelligent traffic control will be the topic of “What Moves You?” Part 2, later this month, on People, Planet, Profits, and Projects.
If we where to pay full cost of product (production and destruction) our choice would be different.
Some country are starting in this direction with namely guaranties that need to be reasonable. A toaster should last years, you may pay a bit more but just once for a long period!
