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Oil prices are the other key. Around the year 2000, some thought we were at or near peak oil. If oil prices had risen above $200/barrel in the '00s, the Segway
by jseliger 6y ago
Oil prices are the other key. Around the year 2000, some thought we were at or near peak oil. If oil prices had risen above $200/barrel in the '00s, the Segway might have made its way in the market.
It's a bit like the Chevy Volt, a car that I see criticized on HN and elsewhere occasionally. It was conceived of at a time when future oil prices were uncertain, and, if they'd remained sustainably high, it would have been a huge hit. But Americans have short memories and don't actually care much about the environment, so it was a relative flop.
- spaetzleesser 6y agoThe Volt owners I have talked to all loved their car. I think Chevy has messed this up by not marketing the car.
- pureliquidhw 6y agoI wonder why they didn't just create a Volt brand alongside Cadillac and all their others. Then to make the next Hummer an EV seems like a misguided recycle of the brand.
- jmchuster 6y agoHmm, how do you then perceive the success of the Prius? It was similarly conceived at a time when oil prices were high and became a huge hit. And then every other manufacturer started producing their own hybrids in response.
- zbrozek 6y agoI drove a first-gen Volt shortly after they were released. I hated it because of the cap-touch UI, the poor rear visibility, and the poor brake/regen blending. A couple of friends have later generations and love them, but that initial experience poisoned the well for me and I bought an older BMW instead. Given how little I drive, it's going to last at least another fifteen years.