On 3 Nov 2017 at 1:02, brucedp5 via EV wrote: > Critics say EV buyers tend to be wealthier & do not need subsidies ...
This is a wilful and deliberate mischaracterization of the incentirves' purpose. The incentives aren't for the buyers, they're for the automakers. They're bribing them to make vehicles that they'd otherwise refuse to, taking away their excuse of "EVs aren't profitable" by allowing them to charge thousands of dollars more for EVs than they otherwise could. In effect, they're helping Detroit, and a few Asian and European automakers, compete with Tesla (and, to a lesser degree, Nissan). "EV buyers tend to be wealthier" is 100% pure political positioning. The petroleum companies and their owners are far, far wealthier than EV buyers, but you don't see congress threatening to take away THEIR subsidies and tax breaks. I'm sure I don't need to explain the difference. I expect that most or all US automakers will use the incentives' repeal as a reason to reduce or eliminate their EV programs. Some European and Asian automakers may too. The forward-looking ones won't. And there's also a decent chance that some European and Asian governments will continue to subsidize them for quite a while. Those who forge ahead with EVs will have a significant competitive advantage in a decade or two. Those who fall back to their default "strip-mine the current market, forget the future" position will repeat the same errors they made in the 1970s. In 1973, Detroit was caught flat-footed by the Mideast oil boycott. The cars they liked to sell got 13mpg. They had no small, efficient cars that anyone wanted. Chrysler had the Dodge Colt, built for them in Japan by Mitsubishi. Ford had the Pinto, and Chevrolet had the Vega. Look them up and you'll understand why Toyota and Nissan ate their lunch -- and dinner, too. It'll happen again. When once again drivers have to wait in line for hours to buy gasoline, they'll demand EVs. They'll get them from the manufacturers who've been refining them and developing them all along. GM, Ford, and Chrysler will throw up their hands and say, "Who could have foreseen it?" The'll beg congress for ICEV incentives and/or EV tariffs to "level the playing field." Think we'll hear anything then about how ICEVs "don't need subsidies"? David Roden - Akron, Ohio, USA EVDL Administrator = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = EVDL Information: http://www.evdl.org/help/ = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Note: mail sent to "evpost" and "etpost" addresses will not reach me. To send a private message, please obtain my email address from the webpage http://www.evdl.org/help/ . = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = _______________________________________________ UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org Please discuss EV drag racing at NEDRA (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA)
