A month or so ago, drones knocked out 5% of the production of oil in Saudi Arabia. At one time that would have produced dramatic results of a downturn in the world’s economy. Now days, while important the world’s oil traders and the economy absorb it and went on. One of the reasons is the energy supply has changed over the past few years and more power is coming from solar and wind. Fossil fuels both oil and gas are still extremely important but the world’s energy has turned a corner.

In addition, cars are changing and have changed. The latest example is the 2020 Porsche Taycan.

In an article by Norris McDonald of the Toronto Star, he drove the Taycan, but first he learned about the vehicle. He went to Atlanta, Georgia to attend a technical briefing and the car will leave no CO2 imprint. Equally important the acceleration of the Taycan goes from 0 to 100 in 3.0 seconds and has a top speed of 270 miles a hour.

A few weeks later Mr. McDonald was in Germany to test the vehicle – he was with a professional race car driver on the German Autobahn where there is no speed limit and the car went up to 265 mph and had to slow down because of someone doing 225 mph. The car can reach these speeds because of adjustable air intakes and variable rear suspension.

Porsche has reduced the CO2 emission per vehicle by 75% and it its working towards 100% through the Porsche Production 4.0. Smart means flexible and connected production, lean means responsible and efficient use of resources, and green means sustainability and environmental protection. Porsche’s plan is by 2025 half of the vehicles will be electrified – either plug-in hybirds and fully electric vehicles. By 2030 all electric.

The cost of the car is around $200,000 and will be in showrooms in 2020.

Linking to dividend paying stocks, most innovations happen at the most expensive level and then filter down. The technology to allow a Porsche to go 270 mph means some the average commuter car will not necessarily go that fast but will easily means the needs of the family driving the vehicle. That becomes the game changer which means some rental cars will be electric and then the choice at all showrooms will be electric.

Fortunately for the grid system, it is very hard to knock out 5% of the world’s power at one time, however it should mean utility companies will always pay a dividend.

There are more questions than answers, till the next time – to raising questions.