It’s amazing how quickly the nattering nabobs of negativity write off progressive vehicles--electric cars, plug-ins and others--with every10 cent drop in U.S. gasoline prices. Their commentary is the blogging/talking head equivalent of waving the checkered flag (white flag?) as though the race is over andfossil-fueled cars are the winners... destined to continue their lock on the market.

What I call 2G—second generation—automobiles are coming. We’ve had 1Gs for 120 years. It’s time for the 2G, regardless of the cost of liquid, petroleum-based fuel. 2Gs are disruptive paradigm shifters, and they’ll be a success for at least six solid reasons:

First: Consumer Demand. Those who predict failure or triumph for 2G cars based only on the price of oil and gasoline exhibit 20thcentury thinking. They ignore pent-up consumer demand for something—anything—that will allow drivers to thumb their noses at their neighborhood gas station and Middle Eastern oil barons.

Love of Exxon does not increase as the price of gasoline drops.

I look forward to the day that I am in control of my driving destiny. I want fuel freedom, be it by charging my car using the grid while parked at the mall or at home using my solar-based generator. My dream? AVolt-like, plug-in EV whose engine is flex fuel (come on cellulosic ethanol… I still love you) with solar panels worked into the roof; all encased in Amory Lovins’ carbon fiber body.

The pie chart of consumers who make up the market for 2G automobiles has many slices. There are Greens, whose ranks have swollen since the turn of the century. There are the national security folks, who want to cut the cord to the Persian Gulf. And there are the fiscal sentries, a la Pickens, who foam at the mouth just thinking about that massive transfer of wealth.

There are plenty of people, myself included, who would drive an electric vehicle if gasoline were at 50 cents a gallon to save the environment, get out of the foreign noose, and deprive Venezuela, Russia and the Middle East of our cash. Toyota sold plenty of Priuses (Pri-i?) well before 2008 gasoline prices shot upward.

If anything, the price issue is attached to the price of the vehicle. Give me a 2G car at the same price as a 1G, and I’ll take the 2G any day. This day.

Second, Public Policy. Don’t discount the new world that began on November 4th of this year. I anticipate a kaleidoscope of city, county, state, federal and international policies that help create market pull for low-to-no-carbon vehicles. There will be local allowances, state and federal incentives, and all sort of bonuses for consumers (free meter parking, access to HOV lanes, lower registration fees, and more). I’m sure corporations will gain from progressive policies that award them for doing the right thing when it comes to 1G vs. 2G car and truck fleets. There will also be very strong public procurement for local and federal fleets.

Third, Global Warming. It’s getting hot in here… and lower fuel prices exacerbate the problem. Thinking people will know that if anything, the world has to move to the 2G auto if only to save the planet. Citizens, politicians, thought leaders and corporate executives who follow this stuff know we have to do something, even if gasoline is free.

Fourth, GM and Bob Lutz are irrelevant, and stop bringingup the EV1. Does anyone really care what Bob Lutz has to say? (They were promoting a new Hummer at the auto shows in 2008, for heaven’s sake). If the Volt doesn’t happen, so what? GMs not in charge any more. GM is going away… itwill not survive in the form in which we’ve known it. And so what?

The EV1 was never promoted, GMs heart wasn’t in it, and God only knows why they even started that project. The Volt looks great, but I’d drive it if it came from Toyota, or Ford, or TATA. It’s not about the maker…it’s about the value of the item.

Fifth: The U.S. car industry is changing, but not going away. We have a boutique automobile industry growing between the cracks of the old industry. From Tesla to Fisker to many others, this great nation is producing small, nimble, companies who are hurdling technological barriers. Our car industry will resemble the Northern Italian fashion industry… high-end, high-quality, disaggregated and quick moving. It’s a new day.

Sixth, Scale Happens: stop talking about scale. If I hear one more mindless comment about ‘capital stock turnover periods impeding technology penetration’, I’m going to puke. Everybody is so hung up on scale. SUVs went from 0 to 60 in amazingly fast fashion… dominating the market in less than 10 years. The iPod was nothing and Apple made it into the only thing. People will buy quality. Make 2G autos and they will come.

<?xml:namespace prefix="o"?>Remember not to confuse the Market with the market journalists and analysts or the Petrol Posse. Today’s journalists and analysts would have picked apart and diminished Operation Overlord--theNormandy landings of D-Day. I can see it now: “What about the weather”? “Will the Germans get mad?” “Is Eisenhower the right man for the Job” “What do we do when we get there?” “Will the French welcome us?” “Will this extend the war”? “Should we rethink appeasement?”.

And the Petrol Posse will do anything… everything… to perpetuate their current lock on the system. Hell, their system.

Companies large, small, new and nimble will make 2G cars a success by communicating excitement, quality and brand to the Market.

It’s time to choose sides. 2G autos are preparing their assault on the beaches of Fortress Fossil. Operation Overdrive is in motion.