I'm sure this has been discussed a lot, but I missed it, so here we go...

In the G1 cartoon (and comics?) the Decepticons are constantly running around trying to steal/hijack various power sources. The Autobots always seem to be just fine, as far as power reserves go. What's the deal?

Thoughts and theories please!

 

The Autobots had the Ark, along with (fairly) friendly relationships with the human populus.

Beyond that, the Autobots never really had any goals beyond surviving and slapping the Decepticon's collective hands when they pushed too far, while the Cons were constantly attempting to conquer, gain status, find an edge, etc.

Thus, greater needs for power.

 

What Vatarian said. Plus, they were trying to run a planet. While the show was never completely clear, I got the impression that, by time the 'Bots and 'Cons on the Ark awoke, Cybertron was mostly under Decepticon control. I mean, either there weren't any major Autobot strongholds, or Optimus Prime just decided "screw them" and left them to starve, since the we never see the 'Bots contact them, nor do they have a Space Bridge (though they always took the 'Cons bridge whenever they wanted).

 

You would think Megatron would demand a timeshare on that thing.

 

Final part of the series' 3 part premiere... The Autobots are given a crap ton of Energy from all of the Earths governments

 

In the Sunbow cartoon, at the end fo the MTMTE pilot, it's established that the Autobots are working with the nations of Earth and that resources were being moved their way. Originally, it was for them to return to Cybertron but then the Decepticons show back up again in the next episode...they stay put.

As for Autobots on Cybertron, Prime is obviously more concerned with Megatron...so the resistance is on their own, like Elita-1 and company. Obviously, they're doing exactly what Bumblebee and Wheeljack were doing at the beginning of MTMTE...stealing from the Decepticons when they get the chance. With just Shockwave ruling what appears to be a mostly vacant planet, they appear to be getting by alright.

The need for more Energon on Cybertron FOR THE AUTOBOTS arises when they create moonbases to mobilize from closer proximity by 2005. Megatron is now back on Cybertron as well. It's not clear where the Decepticons are getting their energy from, though. Autobots still lack access to Space Bridge technology...and we can assume the Decepticons have abandoned it at this point...or at least redirected it to another world that would be not useful to the Autobots to launch an attack and claim access...instead sitting pretty on a supply chain from Earth.

 

Ahhhhh, there we are. Thank you, WishfulThinking!

 

What Vatarian said. The Autobots in G1 had quite a few human allies and had advanced tech like Teletran I and the Ark

 

Autobots were good at recycling. Decepticons not so much.

 

The Autobots don't have a desire to conquer and subjugate Earth, the Decepticons do. If you're, say, Ronnie Reagan or Mikhail Gorbachev, I think it's a no-brainer.

 

The Ark was in a active volcano (it showed the lava was flowing in several episodes) so maybe they just have the tech to capture the energy from that. So pretty much unlimited power. That and being friends with the humans mean they can just ask for any energy they need.

 

It's possible. The Decepticons had any number of plans to tap Earth's geothermal power. They just kind of tripped up because they were so impatient about it.

 

If the Decepticons were smart, they'd set up some underwater turbines to capture power from the ocean currents right next to their base. Unless it was harming someone or the Earth, the Autobots probably would have left it alone.

Of course that would lead to a boring show.

 

Megatron was stealing the Earth's resources to be sent back to Cybertron via their Spacebridge. They all seem to have enough to get by with day to day combat but Megatron's goal was stockpiling Engeron cubes for the Decepticon's future.

 

I always thought the Decepticons motivation was to use Earths resources to revitalize Cybertron. Kind of noble in a way if it didn't require sucking our planet dry. Also the Decepticons could all fly, via some form of antigravity device apparentry specific to their designs. They would certainly require far more energon individually to power such devices. What I never understood is that we often see robot form decepticons flying along side seekers(capable of at least mach 2)and keeping up. While the jets may not have been traveling at max speed they were certainly moving faster than cars. The obvious question is why not just fly away in a straight line to another location? Autobots could never match their speed especially having to account for human traffic and traveling winding roads. I know it's just for cartoon plot convenience but even as a kid it really bothered me.

 

Keeping the forces together would be better if attacked. Better to have Starscream and seekers right there if they need them.

Autobots also tended to do the same. Race cars easily able to go faster then some of the others but they stayed with each other.

 

You know all those cartoon lessons about the real power being the power of friendship or the power of community or the power of clean living or stuff like that? They weren't being metaphorical, the Autobots found a way to actually harness positivity and good conduct as a source of electrical energy. Like every day there's just one of the Ark crew sitting in a chamber reading aloud from the local charity newsletter or meditating silently on the nature of compassion or hugging an enlarged photo of one of his friends and it puts a nuclear reactor to shame I swear.

 

That sounds a lot like the power of children believing that good will always triumph  
Sounds like the Autobots came up wirh the idea before RID Galvatron did  

 

In Marvel, they had a human ally named Blackrock, a ceo of an oil rig company, who knew that Autobots were the good guys. They would get their fuel from his gas stations for free.

 

Surprised they let Beachcomber out of the base then.