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Breaking up is hard to do, but car enthusiasts and ordinary motorists who are still attached to their internal combustion engine vehicles will have to face up to the inevitable: that the car as we once knew it, will no longer be made after 2030.

OEMs around the world are doubling down on their commitment to net zero, and most are counting down to 2030, the year these engines die. 2030 is not a long way away.

Nobody is more aware of this than those working in manufacturing, and this is why entire industries are forced to rethink the way they do business. For OEMs, this means net zero is going to require entirely new models of vehicles. Those internal combustion engine (ICE) cars have got to go.

BEV cars are on the rise, but it isn’t just the average SUV or sedan saying bye-bye to the internal combustion engine. Every vehicle that ever relied on an internal combustion engine to run will be phased out very soon. This covers everything from motorbikes to ten-wheeler trucks.

Big (and little) wheels keep on turning

The UK government has cited the Triumph TE-1 as a positive step towards the shift from internal combustion engine motorcycles to electric-powered bikes, and has proposed plans for 2030 and beyond.

In December  2020, the UK government said that internal combustion engine bikes will be banned from sale by 2030. This covers small combustion engine motorcycles under 125cc and 15 hp, which are classified in the United Kingdom as learner bikes. Larger, high-performance motorcycles will be banned from sale by 2030 as well.

Though it has yet to lapse into law, these plans have earned push-back from at least two major motorcycle organizations in the UK, namely the Motorcycle Industry Association (MCIA), and the National Motorcyclists Council (NMC), composed of organizations coming from both the motorcycle industry and motorcycle riders. The response from organizations such as these is not very surprising, given the drastic deadline.

“Rider opinions must not be ignored in the rush to decarbonize,” says NMC Executive Director Craig Carey-Clinch. The group urges their government not to be so quick to write off options such as hydrogen power and synthetic e-fuels, both of which are carbon neutral and would allow conventional motorcycles to run.

The groups find the proposal to ban petrol-powered bikes restrictive and the focus on pushing e-motorcycles narrow-visioned. They go on to say, “Imposing specific technologies means limiting choice, and therefore creating a constraint on innovations.”

Legislation for the proposed ban will not be drawn up until after the consultation wraps up after September 2022.

Meanwhile, legendary truck manufacturer Navistar is making surer steps toward carbon neutrality by announcing the roll-out of a new model truck, the S13 to be the very last of its internal combustion engine kind.

According to Navistar, the new model’s new power train is up to 15% more fuel-efficient, thanks to aerodynamic technology. A collaboration between the company and its parent company, Traton Group, the S13 is set to replace the A25 engine from 2017.

Compared to another older model, the A26 that came out in 2021, the S13 is 30-52 pounds lighter and is the lightest 13-liter powertrain on the market. The company says that it could save a fleet up to $31,000 in fuel for five years (based on diesel prices of $4 per gallon.) Orders for the S13 open in October 2022.

What a smart and slick PR move on the company’s part: using the countdown to push a new internal combustion engine vehicle while also doubling down on their commitment toward carbon neutrality by announcing it to be their last.

Getting the hell out of Dodge

Also not surprising (though perhaps a tad unexpected) is the push-back coming from collectors, car enthusiasts, and even ordinary motorists over the inevitable demise of the internal combustion engine car. Push-back might be too strong a term, so let’s call it drama, because that’s what it is.

When faced with the inevitable, people can get emotional over the end of a good thing. And muscle cars? To many, it was a great thing.

Muscle cars such as the Dodge Challenger and Charger came into vogue in the 1970s, and today they’re considered works of art. It’s all about the look, sound, feel, and attitude of a particular era. Muscle cars have a distinct analog aesthetic that has won the hearts of collectors worldwide, but even their makers have to keep on rolling with the changes and make the pivot to electric.

Stellantis, Dodge’s parent company announced that by 2023, the company will no longer be making internal combustion engine models. Now that’s drama! The best part? Challengers and Chargers will still be made, albeit without any of the old-fashioned internal combustion engines. Yes, that’s right—the muscle cars of the future are going electric!

What about the look, sound, feel, and attitude, you may ask? The next-generation muscle cars will be able to replicate the sweet rumble of the originals through high-tech speakers the company is calling “Fratzonic”.

Strathmore Dodge General Manager Trevor Gonzales said, “What you're going to be able to do is even despite the lack of internal combustion, we're still going to deliver that muscle car feeling, that muscle car sound, that head- turning, neck-snapping ability to say 'what is that and how do I get one'."

Internal combustion engines are out, and style and sustainable power are in.

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