Super Bowl Ads Are Wildly Popular, But Are Electric Vehicles By Porsche and Audi?

Photo: Consumer Reports

If a person is not a football fan and lives in the United States, chances are that the same person will still watch the Super Bowl (last weekend) for the advertisements exclusively.  Each ad costs millions of dollars for seconds of America's eyeballs to view.  In a period of division (and an election year), what better moment to introduce renewable energy ideas?  The Super Bowl is a perfect venue to add the concept to the American public.  At the very least, a small seed is planted in each viewer's mind.

This year, two automakers intertwined their messages (advertisements) with a range of well-thought-out ideas from animated characters popularly seen in Marvel comic movies to Lebron James of the Lakers.  Politico Energy reported briefly how the concept of sports (electric) vehicles were introduced to the American public:

SUPER BOWL ADS GO ELECTRIC: The energy industry has frequently plopped down millions for expensive Super Bowl spots, whether it be with ads from oil companies or corporations touting their renewable credentials. Some of those have drawn scorn from environmentalists, such as the American Petroleum Institute spot in 2017 that touted wide usages for petroleum and natural gas. But last night's match-up seemed to offer up a shift in the energy world — toward electric vehicles.

General Motors, Audi and Porsche all unveiled ads on their latest EVs during the Big Game. Porsche's spot during the first quarter was the auto company's first Super Bowl ad in 23 years — making it all the more noteworthy the ad was all about its all-electric sports car. Audi's electric car spot featured "Game of Thrones" actress Maisie Williams singing "Let It Go" while driving an EV, after a radio announcer mentions rising temperatures.

"Lets drive to a more sustainable future," touts the ad that is also interspersed with images of plastic waste and vehicle exhaust. The "biggest night in American football" was the perfect time for Audi to share its "strategic path toward sustainable premium mobility with a worldwide audience," said Sven Schuwirth, head of brand Audi, digital business and customer experience, in a release ahead of the commercial.

And GM used its second-quarter airtime for an ad featuring LeBron James, unveiling its first all-electric Hummer. As the Associated Press reports, the ad marks a turning-point for Hummer, which "attracted a devoted following among SUV lovers, who were drawn to the off-road ready vehicles" but "drew scorn from environmentalists and sales never recovered after gasoline prices spiked above $4 a gallon in the summer of 2008."

That shift in the auto industry's messaging comes as electric vehicles' share of the U.S. passenger vehicle fleet steadily increases — and as presidential candidates and Democrats on the Hill have highlighted EVs in their infrastructure plans as crucial to reducing carbon emissions and staving off the worst effects of climate change. But it also follows studies that show drivers remain cautious about ditching gas-fired vehicles, as Axios recently highlighted, and as oil-backed groups oppose state campaigns to build charging stations across the country, as POLITICO's Gavin Bade reported last year.

All of the above advertisement sounds good for the unveiling of electric cars on a larger scale.  That is, offering more variety to a broader range of the American population.  Not all of us can afford to drive Teslas.  The roll-out of electric vehicles on a much larger scale across the nation must be accompanied by the construction of electric vehicle charging stations.



I mention Tesla exclusively because if a person were driving down Interstate 5 in California, stopping for gas would be an opportunity to see charging stations with the Tesla logo on them.  That is fine if a person drives a Tesla.  What about GM? What about BMW?  What about Honda? Toyota?  The electric vehicle charging grid needs to be standardized to built out to accompany all cars built to load (and run) on electricity.



This is why the reporting from Politico Energy throughout the week has been reassuring. Just yesterday, reporting from Politico Energy revealed the proposal of a bill to build out the electric vehicle charging grid across the United States:

AOC, LEVIN TO UNVEIL EV BILL: Democratic Reps. Andy Levin of Michigan and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York will announce their EV Freedom Act today, a bill to deploy high-speed EV chargers across the U.S. within five years. Levin previewed the introduction in a tweet: "To fight climate change & create jobs of the future, we must build a network of public #EV chargers along US highways."

When I read yesterday's news, I was pleased to hear that the law was being considered.  Follow that fantastic news by more from Politico Energy today on electric vehicle infrastructure:

AOC, LEVIN INTRODUCE EV INFRASTRUCTURE LEGISLATION: Democratic Reps. Andy Levin and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Thursday outlined their EV Freedom Act that would roll out a network of electric vehicle chargers across the U.S. within five years. "This proposal will ensure that new chargers are built to keep up with new technology, so we can achieve a simple goal as soon as possible: powering up EVs in the time that it takes to fill a gas tank," Levin said at a press conference. Levin did not provide a cost estimate for the legislation but said it was crafted with support from labor and environmental groups like the Blue-Green Alliance, Sierra Club and the United Automobile Workers.

"This is the infrastructure bill that we need to be rallying behind," Ocasio-Cortez said. She added the measure "really, truly embodies" the core principles of the Green New Deal, which she co-authored: "While we talk about the Green New Deal and we say, 'Hey, we need to decarbonize our transportation,' I know a lot of naysayers will say, 'They're trying to get rid of cars.' Well, we're not trying to get rid of cars, we're trying to actually advance and improve our fleets and our vehicles, which means that we have to go electric." Bloomberg reported that Tesla shares surged following reporting on the bill. Bill text.

The story above is exciting.  Moving toward renewable energy sources is terrific.  Although, I must admit that opponents will counter with the fact that the electricity to charge the stations has to come from somewhere.  And currently, that somewhere is from new coal power plants or natural gas power plants.  The further move toward reducing our carbon footprint needs to include the decarbonization of power plants too.



The timescale may vary with States within the United States.  With the current discussion occurring at this time, a renewed sense of optimism fills my heart.  More and more people are concerned about the environment and are asking how they can make changes at a local (i.e., small ) level to help the environment.  Which is encouraging, to say the least.  Although, we need action in Washington D.C. too to complete the circle of change.  The news above represents such good news.  Let's keep the momentum of a move up.



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