I agree, I’m hoping that they can bring down battery prices as it’s really not reachable for many segments in the US.Chris Stritzel wrote: ↑Sat Jan 23, 2021 7:15 pm I think GM, Chrysler, Ford are going to slowly move their cars to all-electric platforms. By 2030, I expect most of their lineups will include stuff like that. Hybrid versions of the cars will also become much more widespread. However, for everyone to switch to all electric cars, the batteries need to be able to go further distances, the charging times need to become faster, charging stations need to become much more widespread, and the biggest of all: Electric Cars need to become more affordable for people.
Right now, the price points for these just seems high for the average American to want to go and buy. I mean seriously.
- Starting price of $31,260 for a 150-226 mile range Nissan Leaf?
- Starting price of $36,630 for a 259 mile range or so Chevy Bolt EV?
- Starting price of $37,990 for a 263-353 mile range Tesla Model 3?
I get that these appeal to different people but for a majority of Americans, these price points just won't work. I appreciate that car companies are working on bringing costs down. I also understand that the savings come in the form of not spending money on gas or oil, but still. Dishing out that much for a car that doesn't go too far and takes a while to charge up doesn't make sense to me.
We all know that Americans like their cars. It's how a huge majority of us get around the country because our rail system sucks and plane tickets are too high. If a 4 or 5 hour drive now turns into 6+ hours as a result of charging up along the way, I feel like inter-state travel via car will be reduced significantly. So a balance has to be struck, and that's where the faster charging, cheaper car prices, and longer range batteries come into play.
Maybe in the future it will all work out, and I imagine it will, but for now, car companies have a lot of work to do to convince people to buy all electric cars.
All of this said, I think 2040 would be a year to look at for phasing out gas powered car sales. 19 years of innovation can get us very far and convince Americans to switch over. I doubt gas will fully go away.
I do think it’s important they add negative externalities into the price of gas, because we are already starting to pay for that stuff now and it will only compound down the line. It’ll be a lot cheaper to do it at the start and hopefully lower demand