At this point I don't see a solution to the arms-race of autobesity besides regulation. Cars that represent a larger threat to other road users need to have that externality internalized onto the driver.
Because otherwise we just get things like the Hummer EV which is literally over 9000 lbs.
I thought the same thing. Incredibly short term thinking at the corporate and government level to flip flop. Meanwhile Norway is now 97% EV sales and covered in chargers north to south. Not to mention China's fierce EV market domestically.
Sure. But the numbers are certainly trending in a direction that US doesn't seem to want to go in. So, it is what it is, I suppose. Draw your own conclusions.
The problem with many of these EVs is that they were way too expensive. The main reason companies were producing them is due to regulatory requirements and how emissions standards are calculated, not necessarily because wanted to sell these EVs.
What we really need are incentives for companies to build more affordable EVs. California could play a role here, but given the
strong opinions we have about Elon Musk, nothing will be done.
Raise taxes on gas? Put extra taxes on sell ICE vehicles? Increase registration fees for ICE vehicles?
(In short - ICE sales will paying for money lost via EV sales)
I’m not saying it will be easy. I’m saying that if we really want EVs to succeed we can do it.
That heavily depends on the Dem primaries. I think after the unpopularity of Biden and the 2024 loss by Harris there might be more appetite to rock the boat instead of getting another establishment caretaker.
However, the more radical wing of Democrats still have some anti-globalism in them (eg Bernie). But still, imho: Unusual outcomes are on the table for Democratic party leadership at this point.
> All the EV tariffs are staying place past the end of the Trump administration because protectionism is now bipartisan.
Anything Trump supported will continue to be seen as hot garbage after he is removed from office. There is no appetite for protectionism when it has hurt rather than benefitted the American economy.
There is no world in which this would happen, because the auto industry holds up so much secondary and tertiary domestic manufacturing (most of which use China at the bottom anyway).
Those factories won’t be run by Chinese automakers they’ll be shut down with the corresponding loss of jobs and secondary industries.
Gotta say I was annoyed at the time but deprecating the Australian car manufacturers last decade means we have no scruples about allowing cheap as chips Chinese EVs through the door and I’m loving it.
No the regulatory requirements and emission standards have nothing to do with affordability. The only reason is just economies of scale. In fact regulatory requirements help because companies like Tesla historically sold their emission credits to other carmakers to make money.
Confused about this comment. Are you talking about government subsidies and tax incentives? Haven't companies and consumers already been given these incentives? Now that they're drawing down, it's obvious there's a limited market. What needs to happen is real economic demands need to make the market not created ones. Then prices will come down and efficiencies will increase .
