Disneyland will replace the gas-powered cars on Autopia with electric vehicles ahead of a looming state deadline, with the change coming just months before a February 1 cutoff to retire the fleet or shut the ride down completely, per the New York Post.

The attraction has run on combustion since it debuted in 1955, with today's cars powered by 8.5-horsepower Honda four-stroke engines running up to 16 hours a day, according to Fantasyland News, citing the New York Times.

The shift stems from a 2024 settlement with the California Air Resources Board after the ride's cars were found operating without certified emissions controls — a $56,000 payment the New York Post reports Disney called the result of an "administrative oversight."

Disneyland first announced the electric conversion in 2024 and frames it as part of its net zero emissions by 2030 commitment.

Here is the detail that makes this a genuinely surprising EV development: the new Autopia will not use batteries at all.

Disney Legend Bob Gurr, who designed the original ride cars for Walt Disney, told the New York Times that the cars will draw power through the track itself — "electric, but not the conventional idea of a battery in a car. It's very different."

Fantasyland News reports that Disney executives invited the 95-year-old Gurr to a facility earlier this year and showed him a model of the new ride, where he saw the electrified-track setup firsthand.

Gurr has been arguing for this change for 26 years, telling the Times he called the attraction "the dirtiest place on Earth." Disney has not confirmed the track-power design publicly and declined comment, so guests will have to wait for the official reveal.

The conversion creates an open question for the ride's sponsor. Honda has backed Autopia since a 2016 renovation, and both outlets report the automaker's current sponsorship agreement with Disneyland Resort runs through early 2027.

A Honda spokesperson told the Times that discussions about the future of the partnership and the Autopia sponsorship are ongoing, though Gurr said he was told Honda would stay on.

The ride's oil-company lineage adds irony: it was previously sponsored by Richfield Oil from 1955 to 1970 and Chevron from 2000 to 2012, per the New York Post.

Disneyland has not announced when Autopia will close for the conversion or when it will reopen, and the park is reportedly testing a fully electric prototype. Fantasyland News notes that the Tomorrowland Speedway at Magic Kingdom still runs on gas with no known plans to go electric.

For car enthusiasts, the trade is unusual: a 70-year tradition of tiny combustion engines — arguably the most accessible gasoline experience a child can have behind a real steering wheel — is ending because of an emissions-certification settlement rather than consumer demand.

If Gurr's description holds, Fantasyland News argues guests will lose the engine noise and the fumes in the queue while keeping the core thrill of a kid driving for the first time.

There is also a human story layered over the hardware: after the Times interview ran, Gurr's representative asked the paper to retract it, saying Disney had asked him to stop giving interviews about the ride he designed; the Times published anyway, noting Gurr never asked to go off the record.

Disney also declined the paper's requests for photos or video inside the park.