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> We basically postponed the r&d of one for 60 years and funded the other with infinite petro dollars. The R & D would have started much further away from a us

> We basically postponed the r&d of one for 60 years and funded the other with infinite petro dollars. The R & D would have started much further away from a usable product. Maybe we would have got electric cars earlier, but not as early as the 60s or 70s. > Yeah, now, after 60 years of designing every single aspect of our modern lives around gas and gas cars, how surprising indeed Maybe in the US, but not in much of the world. I never owned a car when I lived in London, nor for most of the time I lived in Manchester. Lots of other cities are around the world are better in terms of managing without a car at all. The need for petrol cars is greatest for people who do long trips. The need for a car depends on distances, what people need to transport (goods, kids...). and the availability of public transport. Cities are much nicer with fewer cars and when easier to walk around.

bryanlarsen 2y ago
> The R & D would have started much further away from a usable product. Maybe we would have got electric cars earlier, but not as early as the 60s or 70s. Electric cars were a usable product in 1910, superior in most cases to the alternative of a horse and buggy. If they hadn't been outcompeted by gasoline cars they would have gotten better continuously and would never been unusable or inviable.
- WorldMaker 2y ago
  It's interesting too looking back on the early politics of the electric car versus the gas car. The electric car was the "lady's car" because it was less messy, more reliable, easier to use, quieter, more efficient (higher range in some early cases). The gas car was the "man's car" because it was louder, harder to start, harder to maintain, needed a fuel that was harder to acquire, was overall less reliable. There's an interesting alternate history tale to be told if the Ford Motor Company had been lead instead of by Henry Ford by his wife Clara Bryant Ford (who was a big proponent for electric cars, in addition to being an interesting suffragette).
- graemep 2y ago
  My wording was poor, what I meant was not competitive with petrol cars as early as the 60s or 70s.
  - bryanlarsen 2y ago
    I'm not sure what your point is, then. We already know what happens when gasoline cars are able to compete freely against electric cars. The speculation is what would have happened if gasoline cars weren't allowed to compete freely, either due to an act of God or an act of legislature.
lm28469 2y ago
> Maybe in the US, but not in much of the world. I never owned a car when I lived in London, nor for most of the time I lived in Manchester. L Without gas you'd starve in a week in any major city... I also don't own a car, never owned one either btw

bryanlarsen 2y ago

> The R & D would have started much further away from a usable product. Maybe we would have got electric cars earlier, but not as early as the 60s or 70s. Electric cars were a usable product in 1910, superior in most cases to the alternative of a horse and buggy. If they hadn't been outcompeted by gasoline cars they would have gotten better continuously and would never been unusable or inviable.

WorldMaker 2y ago
It's interesting too looking back on the early politics of the electric car versus the gas car. The electric car was the "lady's car" because it was less messy, more reliable, easier to use, quieter, more efficient (higher range in some early cases). The gas car was the "man's car" because it was louder, harder to start, harder to maintain, needed a fuel that was harder to acquire, was overall less reliable. There's an interesting alternate history tale to be told if the Ford Motor Company had been lead instead of by Henry Ford by his wife Clara Bryant Ford (who was a big proponent for electric cars, in addition to being an interesting suffragette).
graemep 2y ago
My wording was poor, what I meant was not competitive with petrol cars as early as the 60s or 70s.
- bryanlarsen 2y ago
  I'm not sure what your point is, then. We already know what happens when gasoline cars are able to compete freely against electric cars. The speculation is what would have happened if gasoline cars weren't allowed to compete freely, either due to an act of God or an act of legislature.

lm28469 2y ago

> Maybe in the US, but not in much of the world. I never owned a car when I lived in London, nor for most of the time I lived in Manchester. L Without gas you'd starve in a week in any major city... I also don't own a car, never owned one either btw