On 12 Nov 2014 at 0:26, brucedp via EV wrote: > Anyone seeing an automaker pattern here?
I read the same thing about the gas-only "hybrids" 10 years ago - though it's interesting to note that back then - as today - some automotive managers said "they can't be made profitable" while others said, more quietly, "we will make them profitable." Automotive managers are focused on their own bottom lines; that's their job, I guess. EVs DO provide a financial return, but the return is long-term and accrues to all of society - for now. The Mideast oil boycott of the mid-1970s changed the auto industry forever. The automakers who were ready with good, small, appealing fuel-efficient ICEVs (Toyota, Nissan) saw their sales profits increase. They couldn't build the cars fast enough to meet the demand. The automakers who had put very little effort into efficient cars and relied on big, inefficient cars to make their shareholders happy (GM, Ford, Chrysler, AMC) took the hit. When the world or US again experience fuel shortages (for whatever reason), the financial return will go to those manufacturers well-prepared with good, efficient, already-developed EVs ready to sell. Government could push that process ahead by returning some of that long-term social benefit to the manufacturer in the form of immediate tax breaks based on the number of EVs they sell. I have my doubts that this will happen in the US - I'm not at all sure that the current tax credits and subsidies to buyers will even continue - but I think it's more possible in some European and Asian nations. 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 For EV drag racing discussion, please use NEDRA (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA)
