Miles Axlerod is secretly revealed as the villain behind the plot in Pixar's Cars 2.
Axlerod is introduced as a former oil baron who has converted himself into an electric vehicle. He presents the World Grand Prix as a celebration of alternative fuel and invites racers from around the world to compete.
The conspiracy uses the race and a dangerous fuel called Allinol to provoke public rejection of alternative energy. Axlerod is ultimately exposed as the mastermind and as the car who caused the earlier oil-related disaster associated with the story.
Professor Zündapp is an important henchman, not the final mastermind. Finn McMissile and Holley Shiftwell investigate the conspiracy, while Mater accidentally uncovers crucial evidence. The revelation gives Cars 2 a spy-thriller structure that differs sharply from the small-town road story of the original Cars.