Oil prices will stabilize faster than chip production; which leads to a delay in EV adoption as legacy automakers prioritize less-chip-intensive ICE vehicles and limit their biggest chip requirements to their halo/flagship EVs, which means that most EVs will still not be accessible for most average citizens.
Toyota will fully unveil their supposed solid-state battery tech late in the year and hawk it on their next-gen Hybrids, EVs, and FCVs. It will start on their flagship models and top-end trims of popular models (say top-end Prius and maybe theRAV4 Prime) to help ameliorate costs, then trickle down.
Related, no major charging infrastructure is set up throughout 2022 because of chip shortages and ongoing research to pick the best places to set up charging stations with the limited funds available (just like how GM is being cautious about where to offer complementary charging facilities).
We get another week-long nuclear winter and Texas once again collapses because the power producers didn’t implement back-ups on the basis that it was just a once-in-a-decade freak event and TXDoT didn’t buy more snowplows and salt. Resulting in even more auto-related crisis whether it’s powering up the house with the hybrid/EV or death by exhaust.
Compact nuclear might have a breakthrough, and instead of another renewable project, a compact reactor is built in the hopes of being able to provide more power with less space. Auto-related because this would help deal with increased load on the power grid.
Cybertruck will be delayed another year, while the Lightning strikes hard and fast and Rivian attempts to capitalize on the limited competition (while still honoring its Amazon commitments). GM reveals its more powerful Hummer EV with 3 motors as well as the cheaper single motor variant, alongside it’s normal EV truck.
Hydrogen-based power will have modest breakthroughs throughout 2022 and start seeing some infrastructure put up outside of California; partially sponsored by Big Oil as they start seriously planning for a post-gas/diesel automotive future, and also sponsored by long-haul shipping/trucking companies.
Autonomous driving will be focused on long-haul trucking to aid and eventually replace the troubled CDL driver shortage and also to help cut down shipping delays. In parallel, shipping firms will have to start working in some kind of stipend for drivers who are stuck in hour+ delays, instead of completely going without pay from idling.
Like the Spanish Inquisition, no one could have predicted Russia’s invasion of Ukraine at the start of 2022. But other than oil prices, you were pretty on the nose.
