Ethanol in Fukushima, No CA Love for Leno’s Law, Retail in the Wild with Paul

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Episode #1140: Today we’re talking about Toyota’s big ethanol play in Fukushima and California lawmakers slamming the brakes on “Leno’s Law” for classic cars. Plus, Paul’s back with some unexpected retail takeaways from his vacation travels.

Show Notes with links:

• Toyota and a coalition of Japanese automakers are doing something symbolic and strategic — turning the former Fukushima no-go zone into a proving ground for next-gen biofuels.
  • A Toyota-led consortium is piloting ethanol biofuel production in Okuma, the town devastated by the 2011 nuclear disaster.
  • They’re cultivating high-cellulose sorghum, which outperforms corn in poor soil and doesn’t compete with food crops.
  • This is part of Japan’s “multipathway” strategy — pushing hybrids, synthetic fuels, and biofuels alongside EVs.
  • The group, which includes Subaru, Mazda, Suzuki, Daihatsu, and Eneos, opened a $33M plant in November to convert the sorghum to E10 fuel.
  • “We want this movement to spread beyond Japan to the world,” said Toyota CTO Hiroki Nakajima while touring the fields in a straw hat.

• Jay Leno’s push to exempt classic car owners from smog checks in California has officially stalled. Despite passing the Senate and Leno’s personal testimony, the bill was quietly killed by the Assembly Appropriations Committee.
  • Senate Bill 712, dubbed “Leno’s Law,” would have exempted pre-1981 cars with historic plates from smog checks.
  • The Assembly’s Appropriations Committee killed the bill without explanation, alongside 70 others on its “suspense file.”
  • Leno argued classic car smog checks are outdated, expensive, and hard to perform with modern equipment.
  • Environmental groups and air quality regulators opposed the bill, citing cost and pollution concerns.
  • “Sadly, today California said ‘no’ to helping preserve these rolling pieces of history,” said sponsor Sen. Shannon Grove.

Join Paul J Daly and Kyle Mountsier every morning for the Automotive State of the Union podcast as they connect the dots across car dealerships, retail trends, emerging tech like AI, and cultural shifts—bringing clarity, speed, and people-first insight to automotive leaders navigating a rapidly changing industry.

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