CAFE stds on the chopping block
NYT Good riddance. There is no way that the average fleet mileage would ever come close to those numbers anyway. Hopefully the ethanol scam will be cut at the same time.
Forum Discussion
All of these sites are far left biased and are hardly reliable. I could find some articles on Breitbart that argue the exact opposite. And you pro-green types would reject those. Here is a more honest look from the lefty Hill site: Projections
I found another that gave the honest guess of an adoption rate in the US of 3 to 10 percent in 2025. No one knows in other words. Obama said there would be 1,000,000 electric vehicles on the road in 2015. He was just off by 72 percent
In order for electric cars to spread you need certain things to happen in my opinion:
1) Range has to go way up, to 400 miles minimum, to kill range anxiety. This is essential to get non megacity drivers interested.
2) There would have to be a massive expansion of public charging stations.
3) Charging would have to be much faster, waiting 60-90 minutes to get a charge will not be popular.
4) Gas prices would have to skyrocket again. Not what anyone expects anymore after the shale revolution. Oil prices are projected to stay below $60 for at least the next 10 years.
5) Big electric vehicle would have to become available: SUV, Vans and Pickups. People do not want tiny cars.
6) Normal accessories would have to be standard on electrics. I mean a/c and heating along with now expected electronics like backup cameras and lane departure.
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Considering all the above I just don't see them being anything more than a niche product. Plus over all this is the Lithium production bottleneck. Electrics take almost 20 percent of worldwide Li production now. That does not leave room for a 10 fold expansion. Unless new Li deposits are found.
I found another that gave the honest guess of an adoption rate in the US of 3 to 10 percent in 2025. No one knows in other words. Obama said there would be 1,000,000 electric vehicles on the road in 2015. He was just off by 72 percent
In order for electric cars to spread you need certain things to happen in my opinion:
1) Range has to go way up, to 400 miles minimum, to kill range anxiety. This is essential to get non megacity drivers interested.
2) There would have to be a massive expansion of public charging stations.
3) Charging would have to be much faster, waiting 60-90 minutes to get a charge will not be popular.
4) Gas prices would have to skyrocket again. Not what anyone expects anymore after the shale revolution. Oil prices are projected to stay below $60 for at least the next 10 years.
5) Big electric vehicle would have to become available: SUV, Vans and Pickups. People do not want tiny cars.
6) Normal accessories would have to be standard on electrics. I mean a/c and heating along with now expected electronics like backup cameras and lane departure.
-------------------------------
Considering all the above I just don't see them being anything more than a niche product. Plus over all this is the Lithium production bottleneck. Electrics take almost 20 percent of worldwide Li production now. That does not leave room for a 10 fold expansion. Unless new Li deposits are found.
