So, I recently bought a Tesla. It costs me a third less on gas, but the real reasons I bought it were emotional – I like the way it looks, and I like fast cars. I was already there on this purchase, but the ROI also made sense because of the fuel savings and tax credits.
Teslas, like many vehicles, require both an emotional and financial purchase decision. Some people buy Teslas to support Musk or his politics, some buy them to improve the environment, but we all buy them because the purchase makes financial sense.
If you replace “Tesla” with “decarbonization” in my example, that’s basically where we are with the recent change in administration and pausing of government grants. The grants were never the reason to shift to electric vehicles, and losing them doesn’t mean it’s time to abandon EV strategies. Supporting the environment always did, and still does, have two key components – financial and emotional. Both of those are achievable without grants.
People want to do the right thing. I think if you ask anyone, they will agree we all want less pollution and cleaner air. But business managers and executives won’t want to invest in a program that will get them fired if it doesn’t work. Ultimately, even the most emotionally committed business leaders support the environment because they see an ROI that confirms it. There must always be a clear, solid ROI that makes financial sense.
So, honestly, the recent political shift and suspension of government grants supporting environmental initiatives doesn’t matter.
Let’s say that Company X leadership believes in improving the environment and their leadership funded internal initiatives when there was a grant. Now the grant is gone. But if Company X recognizes they are saving money from that initiative, they’ll keep doing it even after the grant dries up.
Having said that, making decisions on ROI alone is not enough to prioritize business operations. There are a thousand ways that businesses can save costs. But those usually require initially spending a little up front to save money in the long run. When that’s the case, people will always have a belief gap and must be convinced of what to prioritize. They must want to do the thing.
Just as with my Tesla purchase, environmental initiatives must have both an emotional and ROI component. Pausing government grants hasn’t changed that.
Some business executives still believe strongly enough in decarbonization or other environmental efforts that they’ll want to proceed and find ways to make the ROI work. And other companies may be saving so much with EV fleet operation, for example, that they’ll never go back to diesel even if it suddenly becomes fashionable. You can get into (and win) the game from either angle.
Ultimately, if the ROI made sense before the administration change, then it still makes sense. And at Panasonic, we are seeing that the math holds up on decarbonization initiatives like fleet electrification, so politics shouldn’t get in the way. If you’ve already proven your ROI, we can help optimize it plus give you some emotional heft to share with the stakeholders who need that to be on board. And if you are already emotionally committed to environmental issues but need help with costs, let’s do the work to find out if your ROI makes sense.