Although I agree with everything you are saying one factor that seems missing here is marketing. The auto industry (or any large industry) can and does change customer perceptions. If they weren't successful at it they wouldn't spend the money that they do on advertising. Advertising is not used to show the consumer that "we have what you need" it is to convince the consumer that "you need what we have."
I have worked with Nike for the last 6 years. When they are trying to break into a new market (say Japan) their first strategy is to create a "sporting culture". They will spend gobs of money promoting different sporting events in order to create a culture in which their products can be sold. If the auto industry wanted to create a "green market" they could, then they could design and sale many EV's. >Not really intending to flame the EV list, but has anyone actually >considered >the automaker's point of view? I would propose to take all names on all >the >waiting lists, all the internet petitions, what have you and add them up. >Then double it for margin of error (a very liberal one). Does this even >add up >to one months' production of any ICE car? My position is that if you sold >an EV >to absolutely everyone that wanted one, it wouldn't amount to enough to be >worth >a months' production run. Be realistic, they don't build ICE's in low >numbers >either. Hard to believe, but not *everyone* wants an EV. It's a niche >automobile, with a demand limited to what a few custom shops and home >converters can meet. I for one, believe the various EV programs truly were >cancelled due to low demand. Compare the number of requests for EV's to >the >number of those who want a livingroom on wheels. They build what people >will >actually buy, not what a vocal minority "demands". If anything's going to >happen on a large OEM scale, it will only happen through a huge upsurge in >the custom/small converter market, or what their demographics reveal as >trends. >Industry has no conscience, it responds to profit margins and regulations. >Unless you can convince them through one or the other that they need to >build >EV's, you'd better get used to the idea of building or buying a conversion. > >Mark Brueggemann >Albuquerque, NM >[EMAIL PROTECTED] >S-10 EV _________________________________________________________________ MSN Photos is the easiest way to share and print your photos: http://photos.msn.com/support/worldwide.aspx
