Shell / Volta Theory - based off the LA streetcar Scandal

Here’s a juicy follow-up to yesterday’s news of Shell Oil’s purchase of Volta EV charging stations. Of course it’s totally gossip. But it’s a theory nonetheless, so let’s have some fun with it. Besides, a little conspiracy theory never hurt anyone these days. So here it is: A good friend called me yesterday after reading the Shell / Volta news. And he said,

“Hey man, you ever heard about the automotive industry joining-up to buy the LA streetcar system?”

I said, “Wait? LA had/has streetcars? I never even knew that.”

And my friend said, “Exactly.”

From pacific electric.org – the Peryhs Collection

In the mid 1940s, GM, Firestone, Chevron, Phillips 66, and Mack Trucks…

Were some of the major players who joined forces & purchased a good portion of the electric LA streetcar system… allegedly just to let it fail & ultimately pull the plug on it. The theory is – they did it to prioritize the automobile for personal use. And also to prioritize diesel buses for public transit use… which happened to be built by GM & Mack, with Firestone tires, Chevron/Phillips oil, etc. They operated under the name National City Lines, and they repeated the same process in a gaggle of different American cities. (Read more about that here.)

So what if…..

Shell were to buy Volta, just to ultimately pull the plug on it? What if the oil industry’s long-game strategy is to impede the growth of the EV charging infrastructure… by purchasing charging companies, just to essentially kill them. Kill the EV infrastructure; kill the EV movement. If the EV charging network doesn’t grow exponentially in the next 1-6 years… then the whole EV movement starts to fizzle like a dollar-store firework. Shell, BP, Exxon, Chevron, etc… they’ve got the financial power to whack a lot of moles right now, before those moles become monsters for the oil companies. Let that swim around in your head a little bit lol. And read the story on LA’s streetcar scandal if you don’t already know about it… it’s really interesting.

Porsche owner/driver – Jerry Peters