One of Disney’s longest-running attractions is ditching fossil fuels

allyson chiu

Thu, Apr 4, 2024, 2:58 p.m.·3 min read

For decades, visitors to Disney’s Autopia ride in Anaheim, Calif., have experienced a taste of the open road, navigating the curves and slopes of a winding miniature motorway in cars with real working gas pedals and steering wheels.

But now the enduring attraction is getting a planet-friendly upgrade: This week, Disney said it will phase out cars powered by pure gasoline engines.

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The announcement, which was first reported by the Los Angeles Times, comes as the park is taking steps to decarbonize as part of an effort to reach a goal of net-zero emissions by 2030. The statement did not specify details about a timeline for electrifying Autopia and whether the new vehicles will be fully electric or hybrid. On Wednesday, Disney CEO Bob Iger defeated activist investors vying for seats on the company’s board. One of them, billionaire Nelson Peltz, had criticized the company for being too “woke.”

“As the industry moves toward alternative fuel sources, we have developed a road map to electrify this attraction and are evaluating technology that will enable us to convert from gas engines in the next few years,” Disney spokesperson Jessica Good said in a statement.

Autopia, a feature of Disneyland’s Tomorrowland, dates to the park’s opening day in Anaheim nearly 70 years ago.

In his dedication to Tomorrowland, Walt Disney described it as a “vista into a world of wondrous ideas, signifying man’s achievements … a step into the future, with predictions of constructive things to come. Tomorrow offers new frontiers in science, adventure, and ideals: the Atomic Age, the challenge of outer space, and the hope for a peaceful and unified world.”

The driving attraction - originally designed to tap into America’s fascination with the freeway - has undergone updates over the years. But the gas-powered cars remained, despite feedback from some visitors that the attraction “stinks like exhaust” or gives off “a very strong smell of fuel.”

The move to get rid of Autopia’s polluting cars is overdue, said Ingrid Malmgren, senior policy director with the electric vehicle advocacy group Plug In America.

“It sounds like Tomorrowland is kind of ready for an update,” Malmgren said. “It was maybe retroland with regard to Autopia.”

In the United States, sales of electric vehicles are increasing, but not as quickly as some experts have hoped - despite federal incentives and lower prices. Wider adoption of EVs appears to still be somewhat hampered, in part, by a hesitant American public.

“Giving people the opportunity to try out these zippy little EVs in Autopia has the potential to really demystify the technology - for people to see how fast it is, how quiet it is,” Malmgren said. “It could get people one step closer to trying an EV as a passenger vehicle.”

Given its widespread popularity, the theme park could help sway Americans who may still be reluctant to make the transition away from fossil fuels.

“So many Americans hold Disney in such a close place in their heart,” said Leah Stokes, an adviser to the nonprofit group Rewiring America, which focuses on electrification. “It’s a huge cultural force in this country, and seeing them embrace the clean electric future is an important milestone along the clean energy transition.”