Quote:
Originally Posted by JST
The thing is, picture yourself 120 years ago arguing against the widespread adoption of petroleum. You'd say:
--Are we really going to build thousands and thousands of underground tanks, all across the country?
--How are we going to ship the fuel there? Where are we going to refine it? Aren't we going to need train cars and trucks and a huge amount of infrastructure to deliver it?
--Won't people object to having these things on every street corner?
--Won't people object to the inconvenience of having to make a separate stop for fuel? Or a whole separate trip?
Moving to EVs is going to require a sea change in the way that we think about using cars and building infrastructure, but it's only hard to imagine because we haven't done it yet. The actual work necessary to build that infrastructure out is time-consuming and expensive, but it's fairly straight-forward. All it requires is a commitment to do it.
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I don't think anyone here is arguing against the modern equivalent adoption of petroleum. I know I'm certainly not. If it was 1900 today, this is what I'd basically be saying is this:
1) The size of the petroleum powered vehicle market will be artificially capped at a fraction of its full potential size until the petroleum transport/delivery system is adequate.
2) Using the wealthy and lucky few that can
a) purchase a new petroleum powered vehicle;
b) purchase a portion of the petroleum delivery system themselves;
c) live in a rare, isolated location where petroleum delivery is possible before a full system exits; and
d) also own a horse and buggy, steam powered, or other self-sufficient transport for those times when a petroleum powered vehicle will not be an option
as a representative sample of the entire population set is ill-advised
3) That everyone (consumer, manufacturer, and government) would be best off if all manufacturers adopted standards for petroleum blends to power their vehicles and how to move petroleum from the delivery system into the vehicles.
I'm not saying don't do it.
(OTOH, if steam power beat out petroleum 120 years ago, perhaps the climate change crisis would not be upon us today.)