Disneyland is moving Autopia toward a fully electric future, retiring the gas engines that have powered the Tomorrowland ride since the park opened in 1955. The company says it is now working on the design, engineering and testing of a prototype vehicle for the update.
The change is landing under a deadline. Disneyland faces a state-mandated Feb. 1 cutoff to retire the gas-powered cars or shut down the attraction under a settlement agreement with the California Air Resources Board, and it has not yet set closing or reopening dates for the work.
That gives the update a sharper edge today than it had when Disneyland first announced in 2024 that it would convert Autopia from gas to electric power by fall 2026. The ride is not just any old feature in Tomorrowland; it has been part of Disneyland since 1955, and its gas engines have become the target of a long-running push to modernize the attraction.
Bob Gurr, who said he began lobbying Walt Disney Imagineering in 2000 to make the switch, has spent 26 years pressing the case. He said, “It will be electric, but not the conventional idea of a battery in a car,” and added, “For 26 years, I’ve been arguing, ‘When are you going to do anything to get rid of that gasoline?’”
The friction is that the work is still in progress while the clock is already running. Disneyland paid a $56,000 settlement to the California Air Resources Board in 2024 after disclosing that the 8.5 horsepower Honda gas-powered engines on Autopia vehicles were operating without certified emission controls, and a shutdown remains on the table if the engines are not retired by Feb. 1.
Honda’s current sponsorship agreement with Disneyland Resort runs through early 2027, but the company says discussions about the future of the partnership are still ongoing. A spokesperson said the sponsorship runs through early 2027 and that discussions regarding the future of the partnership and sponsorship of Autopia are currently ongoing.
Disneyland says it will share more details soon on the update planned for Autopia in Tomorrowland. The immediate question is not whether the ride will change; it is whether the electric version arrives in time to avoid a shutdown, and whether the sponsor attached to the track when the work is done is the same one that is attached to it now.
