4 ms·
Different culture. Different daily life transportation realities.
by Legion 15y ago
Different culture. Different daily life transportation realities.
- roel_v 15y agoThis is claimed very often. I did some very basic research here: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2766844 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2766844 (in a related discussion). In short, I don't see a substantial reason to believe that Americans drive all that more than Europeans do, and certainly not enough to say that the US switch to electric would happen significantly below the current gas price in Europe. (there may be other factors - Americans' general tendency to go to technological solutions earlier than others, other interests that will drive development/adoption of non-petrol powered cars, ...)
- Jabbles 15y agoThis supports your view: http://www.bsfrey.ch/articles/456_07.pdf http://www.bsfrey.ch/articles/456_07.pdf Suggests that the the average US commute time is comparable to Germany's (48 vs 42 minutes). Germany's time has an SD of 19 minutes.
- petercooper 15y agoAlong similar lines: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2765874 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2765874
- Legion 15y agoYou're only thinking of cars, and only comparing car use. You're neglecting things like the fact that plenty of people who might be car commuters in the US would statistically be public transit users in Germany. So, fuel cost pressures that would turn a German to public transit couldn't do the same for an American who lacks similar access to public transit. Hence the potential for the American's increased desire for fixing the problem at the automobile level. Whether it's true or not, I can't say. I am only commenting that comparing car commute times between the two countries doesn't really begin to address the question.