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For people living in cities/towns, how much of an option is it to go car-less? Is it more like, say, Dutch cities, or more like in the US? Anyway, whenever I h

For people living in cities/towns, how much of an option is it to go car-less? Is it more like, say, Dutch cities, or more like in the US? Anyway, whenever I hear talk of promoting EVs without mass transit being mentioned together with it, my instinct is to assume it's some sort of an upwards-transfer-of-wealth scheme in which richer people get subsidized.

danielheath 4y ago
It's not quite as extreme as the US, in the city center you can manage okay without, but it's mostly not an option.
- thundergolfer 4y ago
  You can manage fantastically, not merely okay, without a car in Sydney and Melbourne’s city and inner suburbs. Most people I knew who lived in those areas did not own a car and were better for it.
  - danielheath 4y ago
    Fair, I lived in East Melbourne for a couple of years and having a car was entirely unnecessary.
Ntrails 4y ago
You're right, and I hate it for that reason. However there are not many other levers to be pulled, and any price reduction in what are expensive vehicles will benefit the wealthy. The obvious alternative (make ice vehicles more expensive) will actively hurt the poorer car owners more. I honestly don't see obvious better ways to drive ev uptake
- tim333 4y ago
  You can increase the tax on the cars wealthy people drive like in the UK we have an annual road tax that varies from not much on a 1L economy car and is like £500 a year on large engined vehicles.
- stubish 4y ago
  We need more and cheaper models of EV vehicles on the market. Like there are in other countries. Without this you are correct, as the only cars on the market are only affordable by the wealthy. Over here we are being told that something simple like stricter fuel emissions standards would cause manufacturers to release many more models of EV cars, and that would include more affordable models as well as driving down the costs (we are paying $36,000 USD for a Nissan Leaf, which is only $28,000 USD in USA and 'as low as $20,000' on their web site). Manufacturers still have a lot of capacity for producing cars they are unable to sell in many places, and Australia is a dumping ground. And manufacturers say it will remain so without incentives. Or perhaps if they are forced by new manufacturers such as ACE or BYD, if they are accepted by the market.

danielheath 4y ago

It's not quite as extreme as the US, in the city center you can manage okay without, but it's mostly not an option.

thundergolfer 4y ago
You can manage fantastically, not merely okay, without a car in Sydney and Melbourne’s city and inner suburbs. Most people I knew who lived in those areas did not own a car and were better for it.
- danielheath 4y ago
  Fair, I lived in East Melbourne for a couple of years and having a car was entirely unnecessary.

Ntrails 4y ago

You're right, and I hate it for that reason. However there are not many other levers to be pulled, and any price reduction in what are expensive vehicles will benefit the wealthy. The obvious alternative (make ice vehicles more expensive) will actively hurt the poorer car owners more. I honestly don't see obvious better ways to drive ev uptake

tim333 4y ago
You can increase the tax on the cars wealthy people drive like in the UK we have an annual road tax that varies from not much on a 1L economy car and is like £500 a year on large engined vehicles.
stubish 4y ago
We need more and cheaper models of EV vehicles on the market. Like there are in other countries. Without this you are correct, as the only cars on the market are only affordable by the wealthy. Over here we are being told that something simple like stricter fuel emissions standards would cause manufacturers to release many more models of EV cars, and that would include more affordable models as well as driving down the costs (we are paying $36,000 USD for a Nissan Leaf, which is only $28,000 USD in USA and 'as low as $20,000' on their web site). Manufacturers still have a lot of capacity for producing cars they are unable to sell in many places, and Australia is a dumping ground. And manufacturers say it will remain so without incentives. Or perhaps if they are forced by new manufacturers such as ACE or BYD, if they are accepted by the market.