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"negative externalities" as described by the people who handily have a solution to sell you; or instruction to give you on how you can Be Better, according to t

"negative externalities" as described by the people who handily have a solution to sell you; or instruction to give you on how you can Be Better, according to them. There are about 500,000 electric cars registered in CA, out of about 15,000,000 registrations total. So, ~3.5%. When one factors out the owners who have an ICE vehicle in addition, the % probably goes to less than 1. That's CA; the best-case scenario. This is also after CAFE tax credits have gone to subsidize electric vehicle production, as well as subsidies and tax credits to electric vehicle purchasers. The original CARB ZEV goal was to have 10% of California's fleet electrified. This goal was set in...1990, and was expected to happen by 2000. I'm sure it was a hard choice to make. The manufacturers could ask for government support for their business until such a time that government ZEV goals could be achieved with a profitable product, or...they could build the cars that people would pay for.

kelnos 3y ago
I think there's a lot more nuance here than you're admitting. Any major displacement to something as foundational as cars isn't going to happen overnight. Tesla made EV's cool, and that has driven the traditional carmakers to offer more and better EVs, but we're still far from parity when it comes to what you can buy. All the traditional carmakers have a relatively small number of EV options, and they're not available at all trim levels. Like carmaker XYZ but don't want to drive a hatchback? ICE car it is. Like carmaker ABC but don't like the single trim level sedan they chose to base their EV on? ICE car it is. I would be surprised beyond belief if these manufacturers were not getting pressure from the oil industry to only do the minimum when offering EV models. Regarding negative externalities: if the price tag of a new car included the cost of all the pollution you're going to be spewing into the air while driving it, EV pricing would look even more attractive, even if we did the same for EVs and included the externality costs of battery manufacture and disposal/recycling. I was in the market for a new car a year and a half ago. I really wanted to buy an EV, but none of the available models were what I was looking for in a car. Unfortunately, I bought another ICE car. I'm very much hoping that, in 10 years, when I start thinking about another new car, the EV options will be much more varied. I expect there are a lot of people like me, who want to buy an EV, but the product they want isn't on the market (despite equivalent ICE options being available).
- linksnapzz 3y ago
  >I expect there are a lot of people like me, who want to buy an EV, but the product they want isn't on the market (despite equivalent ICE options being available). If there was a suitably compelling electric vehicle for everyone, would the ICE market go to zero? Sure-very little of the market wants cars that burn gas for the sake of burning gas. But, that's not a useful observation. >Regarding negative externalities: if the price tag of a new car included the cost of all the pollution you're going to be spewing into the air while driving it Other than CO2, what pollution? >I would be surprised beyond belief if these manufacturers were not getting pressure from the oil industry to only do the minimum when offering EV models. The oil industry also produces the feedstock for generating the electricity used to charge the electric cars. "Journalist discovers Tesla charging station with a discretely-hidden diesel genset nearby" is practically a meme at this point.

kelnos 3y ago

I think there's a lot more nuance here than you're admitting. Any major displacement to something as foundational as cars isn't going to happen overnight. Tesla made EV's cool, and that has driven the traditional carmakers to offer more and better EVs, but we're still far from parity when it comes to what you can buy. All the traditional carmakers have a relatively small number of EV options, and they're not available at all trim levels. Like carmaker XYZ but don't want to drive a hatchback? ICE car it is. Like carmaker ABC but don't like the single trim level sedan they chose to base their EV on? ICE car it is. I would be surprised beyond belief if these manufacturers were not getting pressure from the oil industry to only do the minimum when offering EV models. Regarding negative externalities: if the price tag of a new car included the cost of all the pollution you're going to be spewing into the air while driving it, EV pricing would look even more attractive, even if we did the same for EVs and included the externality costs of battery manufacture and disposal/recycling. I was in the market for a new car a year and a half ago. I really wanted to buy an EV, but none of the available models were what I was looking for in a car. Unfortunately, I bought another ICE car. I'm very much hoping that, in 10 years, when I start thinking about another new car, the EV options will be much more varied. I expect there are a lot of people like me, who want to buy an EV, but the product they want isn't on the market (despite equivalent ICE options being available).

linksnapzz 3y ago
>I expect there are a lot of people like me, who want to buy an EV, but the product they want isn't on the market (despite equivalent ICE options being available). If there was a suitably compelling electric vehicle for everyone, would the ICE market go to zero? Sure-very little of the market wants cars that burn gas for the sake of burning gas. But, that's not a useful observation. >Regarding negative externalities: if the price tag of a new car included the cost of all the pollution you're going to be spewing into the air while driving it Other than CO2, what pollution? >I would be surprised beyond belief if these manufacturers were not getting pressure from the oil industry to only do the minimum when offering EV models. The oil industry also produces the feedstock for generating the electricity used to charge the electric cars. "Journalist discovers Tesla charging station with a discretely-hidden diesel genset nearby" is practically a meme at this point.