For years, the automotive industry has clung to the idea that there’s only one path to net zero: One technology, one direction, one perfect solution. It’s a compelling story. But it’s not true. The road to net zero looks less like a straight highway and more like a map of shifting terrain. Mountain passes, valleys, and unexpected turns. The way forward depends on where you are, what you drive, and how energy reaches you. In other words, there isn’t just one road. There are many.
A transition misunderstood
The truth is, the future of mobility will require a mix of technologies – electric vehicles, hybrids, and low-carbon fuels. What matters is not which one wins, but how they work together to move us faster toward the same goal.
What the market is saying
By 2040, fewer than half of the new vehicles are expected to be fully electric – even under optimistic forecasts. That means over a billion vehicles will still rely on combustion engines for decades. If we ignore that massive fleet, we risk slowing the transition rather than accelerating it.
Around the world, drivers are already choosing what’s right for them:
- In China, hybrid sales nearly doubled last year.
- In Brazil, 83% of customers run flex-fuel vehicles on ethanol.
- In Europe, hybrid adoption keeps growing – even without subsidies.
- Regulators are adapting too, with the UK extending hybrid sales to 2035 and California recognizing the role of hybrids in cleaner mobility.
Looking at the full picture
Focusing only on tailpipe emissions misses the bigger story. When we account for a vehicle’s entire life cycle – from material extraction to energy generation – hybrids often deliver lower total emissions.
A hybrid battery typically uses 1.8 kWh compared to 80 kWh for a BEV. And with 60% of global electricity still produced from fossil fuels, charging a BEV in some regions can emit more CO₂ than driving an efficient hybrid on biofuels.
Turning ideas into impact
At Horse Powertrain, we do believe in the EV transition. But to reach net zero, we have to address all parts of the journey, including the millions of cars powered by combustion or hybrid engines for years to come.
Today, Horse Powertrain's production engines are today thermal efficiencies of 43.5%, with our next generation of engines approaching 45%. And in the lab, some of our future systems are achieving thermal efficiencies well above 50%. These all directly translate into significant savings in vehicle greenhouse gas emissions.
Our Future Hybrid System
(Discover our solutions and how Horse Powertrain enables OEMs on their journey to net zero)
Bridging the gap for OEMs
Different regions require different solutions. And each of those solution categories requires its own supply chain and production footprint. For automakers, this means it’s not realistic to cover the entire market.
That’s where we come in. We help automakers eliminate the need for parallel production footprints. In some cases, we can help do this by helping them to use a single vehicle platform as a foundation for a range of powertrains.
This is epitomised by our new Future Hybrid system. This was developed to use a BEV platform as a foundation for hybrid, plug-in hybrid, or range extended EV models. For automakers, that means fewer risks, faster product development cycles, and more time and resources to focus on the things that differentiate their vehicles, like design, software, and user experience.
For more information on our approach to the future of mobility, contact us.