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I just bought a brand new 2020 Honda Civic EX in November and I love it, I just hope it wasn't a mistake buying a gasoline engine. Here in Canada, the carbon ta

I just bought a brand new 2020 Honda Civic EX in November and I love it, I just hope it wasn't a mistake buying a gasoline engine. Here in Canada, the carbon tax is supposed to raise the cost of gas 30 per cent by 2030. I'm not anti-carbon tax, but am I going to be driving a relic a decade from now?

JoshTko 6y ago
What exactly are you concerned about?
- thrusong 6y ago
  Carbon tax going up and demand going down, driving the price of gas up. Buying old technology that might not be as well supported, the same reason I'm holding off replacing my Intel iMac right now (waiting for an Apple Silicon iMac but a second generation that might be supported better/longer).
Scoundreller 6y ago
No, but the residual on a new 6cyl+ (today) after 10 years is dwindling.
- thrusong 6y ago
  Didn't think of that: no resale market...
  - Scoundreller 6y ago
    You’ll still be in relatively good shape with the Civic. I wonder what saltwater infiltration will do to electric cars over time in Canada. Especially once they’re not garage-queens.
bryanlarsen 6y ago
Worst case scenario is $0 resale value and $2 per litre gasoline. It'll still be a good car.
- timbit42 6y ago
  If you can get parts for it.
- thrusong 6y ago
  That's a bit re-assuring. I had a 15-year-old standard Civic Si that was written off at under 180,000-kms because a deer ran into the side of us. It was such a great car. I won't be happy paying $2 per litre, but it probably won't break the bank. Who knows what COVID will do to inflation overall, though?
JulianMorrison 6y ago
Yes. The thing about gasoline that people aren't thinking about is that - refining the fuel and getting it to where you can physically buy it, and - the complicated engine gubbins inside (compared to much simpler battery EVs), ...are both long logistical tails that absolutely depend on volume of custom to make their current form affordable, by hiding the large fixed costs of infrastructure. Which means that there will be a crossover point some time in the next 30 years, and probably earlier than you'd think, when running a gasoline fuel station, a gasoline refinery, making the complicated parts, and training to install them, will no longer be commercially viable as anything other than a private hobby (like running a 1920s car, you can do it, but YOU are going to have to do all of it, there is no 1920s car mechanic in the phone book). At this crossover point the value of a gasoline car will be either - its value as a basis for a BEV conversion kit, probably not a whole lot as they'll be expensive and poorly suited, or - it's value as scrap parts. Sorry.

JoshTko 6y ago

What exactly are you concerned about?

thrusong 6y ago
Carbon tax going up and demand going down, driving the price of gas up. Buying old technology that might not be as well supported, the same reason I'm holding off replacing my Intel iMac right now (waiting for an Apple Silicon iMac but a second generation that might be supported better/longer).

Scoundreller 6y ago

No, but the residual on a new 6cyl+ (today) after 10 years is dwindling.

thrusong 6y ago
Didn't think of that: no resale market...
- Scoundreller 6y ago
  You’ll still be in relatively good shape with the Civic. I wonder what saltwater infiltration will do to electric cars over time in Canada. Especially once they’re not garage-queens.

bryanlarsen 6y ago

Worst case scenario is $0 resale value and $2 per litre gasoline. It'll still be a good car.

timbit42 6y ago
If you can get parts for it.
thrusong 6y ago
That's a bit re-assuring. I had a 15-year-old standard Civic Si that was written off at under 180,000-kms because a deer ran into the side of us. It was such a great car. I won't be happy paying $2 per litre, but it probably won't break the bank. Who knows what COVID will do to inflation overall, though?

JulianMorrison 6y ago

Yes. The thing about gasoline that people aren't thinking about is that - refining the fuel and getting it to where you can physically buy it, and - the complicated engine gubbins inside (compared to much simpler battery EVs), ...are both long logistical tails that absolutely depend on volume of custom to make their current form affordable, by hiding the large fixed costs of infrastructure. Which means that there will be a crossover point some time in the next 30 years, and probably earlier than you'd think, when running a gasoline fuel station, a gasoline refinery, making the complicated parts, and training to install them, will no longer be commercially viable as anything other than a private hobby (like running a 1920s car, you can do it, but YOU are going to have to do all of it, there is no 1920s car mechanic in the phone book). At this crossover point the value of a gasoline car will be either - its value as a basis for a BEV conversion kit, probably not a whole lot as they'll be expensive and poorly suited, or - it's value as scrap parts. Sorry.