You wrote: "You are expecting people and corporations to be much more rational and less selfish than they are. You are expecting people to give up a lot of convenience and familiarity."
On the contrary, I am counting on people being more selfish. That is, wanting to save money. Electric cars are marginally more expensive now, if you don't…
You wrote: "You are expecting people and corporations to be much more rational and less selfish than they are. You are expecting people to give up a lot of convenience and familiarity."
On the contrary, I am counting on people being more selfish. That is, wanting to save money. Electric cars are marginally more expensive now, if you don't count fuel costs and insurance. They will soon be far cheaper. They are much cheaper to manufacture and maintain, so it is just a matter of time before the purchase price falls below gasoline cars. Competition ensures that. Toyota may not want to sell them cheaper than gasoline cars, but Ford and GM will force their hand.
People ALWAYS want to pay less. Familiarity means nothing. People have no loyalty to ExxonMobil.
"And sections of our current distribution system cannot handle existing loads, already, especially in deteriorating environmental conditions."
There may be a few places like that, but most places can accommodate 1 hour of clothes drying per night.
"You are expecting people to actually have an idea about costs (long and short term) . . ."
When the sale price of a new electric car falls below the cost of a gasoline car, everyone will know. People are not stupid. The car manufacturers will tell them, in any case.
The car companies are rushing to convert to electric cars. Not as a public service but because they know gasoline cars will not be competitive for long. Car companies are not run by idiots. Those people can do arithmetic and they can see the writing on the wall.
"There is more work and prep to be done than you think--and a lot of it doesn't have much to do with the tech."
No work at all. I had an electric car which I gave to my daughter. She got a charger in downtown DC for $150 including the 220 V outlet installation A piece of cake.
"I have this vague memory of an energy emergency in Texas (and didn't prices skyrocket there at the same time)?"
That was caused by cold weather shutting down nuclear plants and natural gas pipelines. Wind power was the most reliable. It would never happen in a place like Minnesota where the equipment is winterized. They could winterize it in Texas, but such cold weather is rare, so they didn't. At the time, right wing politicians blamed wind power. As you say, people do not know much about technology, so they believed it. People do understand when one car is cheaper than another, and costs much less in insurance and maintenance, and much less to fuel.
You wrote: "You are expecting people and corporations to be much more rational and less selfish than they are. You are expecting people to give up a lot of convenience and familiarity."
On the contrary, I am counting on people being more selfish. That is, wanting to save money. Electric cars are marginally more expensive now, if you don't count fuel costs and insurance. They will soon be far cheaper. They are much cheaper to manufacture and maintain, so it is just a matter of time before the purchase price falls below gasoline cars. Competition ensures that. Toyota may not want to sell them cheaper than gasoline cars, but Ford and GM will force their hand.
People ALWAYS want to pay less. Familiarity means nothing. People have no loyalty to ExxonMobil.
"And sections of our current distribution system cannot handle existing loads, already, especially in deteriorating environmental conditions."
There may be a few places like that, but most places can accommodate 1 hour of clothes drying per night.
"You are expecting people to actually have an idea about costs (long and short term) . . ."
When the sale price of a new electric car falls below the cost of a gasoline car, everyone will know. People are not stupid. The car manufacturers will tell them, in any case.
The car companies are rushing to convert to electric cars. Not as a public service but because they know gasoline cars will not be competitive for long. Car companies are not run by idiots. Those people can do arithmetic and they can see the writing on the wall.
"There is more work and prep to be done than you think--and a lot of it doesn't have much to do with the tech."
No work at all. I had an electric car which I gave to my daughter. She got a charger in downtown DC for $150 including the 220 V outlet installation A piece of cake.
"I have this vague memory of an energy emergency in Texas (and didn't prices skyrocket there at the same time)?"
That was caused by cold weather shutting down nuclear plants and natural gas pipelines. Wind power was the most reliable. It would never happen in a place like Minnesota where the equipment is winterized. They could winterize it in Texas, but such cold weather is rare, so they didn't. At the time, right wing politicians blamed wind power. As you say, people do not know much about technology, so they believed it. People do understand when one car is cheaper than another, and costs much less in insurance and maintenance, and much less to fuel.
Nissan Leaf and Chevy Bolt are already cost competitive.