I don't feel like a partisan on this issue. I drive a five year old focus that runs on regular gas. When I bought it I looked at the hybrids (I don't think there were any pure electrics then). They were much more than I paid for the focus, and the question of battery replacement was one I could not get answered to my satisfaction. So I went with a proven technology. I looked a rooftop solar array seriously a few years ago. I did not think it was worth it. At this point i just don't want anybody monkeying around on my roof. When it comes time to replace it, I will likely look again, and if it makes financial sense may well put some up there. I have family and friends who are well-educated and others who are not. Some are well off, and some are not. Some live in rural areas, some live in the city. I get along with them all, and I think if you genuinely try to see things from the other point of view (listening with genuine respect) you usually see the other side has a point. Half of the country is too many to write them all off as stupid (which ever half of the country you personally may be looking at at that moment).Originally Posted by Yonak Hawkins
I think there are two aspects you may want to consider:
One is the "preachiness" of people who support electric vehicles. They can come across like members of a cult, and the overall vibe is pushy. Some people don't like the pushiness, and simply want to be left alone to make their own decisions when they are ready. I knew someone with a new solar array on their roof. It was worse than having a multi-level marketer move in next door. No, I really don't want to hear about the wonders of your roof again. I looked at it and did not think it made sense for us. Period. Full stop. At a certain point the pushiness gets disrespectful.
The other aspect is the actual force of government policy at many levels. Is there an overt ACA style mandate that somebody has to go out and buy an electric car? No, not yet anyway. If the supporters of the movement had their way, some are concerned that there would be. However, we do have endless government subsidies. Subsidies for the manufacturers, for the suppliers of the manufacturers, and for the purchasers. Then we have subsidies to put in charging stations, which provide subsidized power, for the people driving the subsidized car they bought from the subsidized manufacturer. Then in some parts of the country you have reduced/eliminated tolls. All of it paid for by the taxpayer. Including the same taxpayers that are sneered at and called stupid neanderthals for clinging to the thing that works and gets them to work everyday. If there is a little bitterness, I for one can understand some of it.
Now you think what you want, but some people think the subsidy structure looks like an effort to "force a shift to renewable energy."
The report linked to on commercial level production is interesting. If you look at the full report you find the following:
"Although alternative energy is increasingly cost-competitive and storage technology holds great promise, alternative energy systems alone will not be capable of meeting the base-load generation needs of a developed economy for the foreseeable future."
The report does not compare apples to apples. It is pricing arrays that are piggy-backing on existing conventional/nuclear supply. The cost structure would be much different if you were looking at a solar system that needed to actually meet the demand without that crutch. It is like comparing the skills of the circus guy who works over a net, to the one guy who goes out and walks the tightrope over Niagara Falls or whatever without a net. What they are doing looks the same, but it is really very different.
No flight crew, but drinks will be self-serve!!
I wonder what a ticket will cost??
