Let’s talk about this over a cup of coffee
The “Emissions Defeat Device” was stupid and another case of engineers that can’t accept that fact that oil (Diesel or Gasoline) has no long term future. Someone posted a picture of a Tesla with a caption; “The Entire Car is an “Emissions Defeat Device” ”. The fact is internal combustion is inefficient and dirty. The sooner we stop building oil burning motor vehicles, the better.
Consumers vote with their money all the time (even in elections!) but in the case of cars, today’s cheap liquid fuel say; “Oh! Boy, let’s buy a pick-up with an extra set of doors and call it the family sedan. Weird trunk, poor handling and crappy fuel economy, but heck, let the good times roll”. How long will 2 bucks a gallon last? Who knows? Does it really matter? The new gas guzzlers we buy today will still be driven after the first owner moves onto their next car of truck. Does a new Nissan Leaf owner leave behind a mess for someone else? They will actually help the next owner as an affordable EV will be available at the used car lot in a few years.
Electrical grid production in America is getting cleaner rapidly. More solar on roof tops and fields, wind in the right places and some new smaller hydro. EV sales in September were pretty good with the BMW i3 selling at a very fast pace. Tesla seems to get it right with every step forward. The new Chevy Volt looks great and more range with the Nissan Leaf. Plug-in hybrids are popular. A new 55mpg Prius with rumored AWD as an option.
How does one help a new car buyer see the future impact of their choice? As the owner of a Volt and Leaf I loan out these two cars every chance I get. Getting involved with the EV community and talking to those that will listen will help. Used EVs are cheap right now. Go to CARS.com and look up the prices. Some EV (Mitsubishi i-MiEV) are under 10K.
This will be a long slog. Change never comes easy. We love our big car and trucks, but we will get there. It really is important that we do.
VW has helped the cause a lot. Now the average driver will know that their diesels are dirty and even the mighty VW engineers couldn’t make it clean enough for the USA so they resorted to cheating. They have been cheating since 2008. This German drama will continue to play out behind the scenes and in the media. Electric cars don’t need any help with illegal software, they just need owners to fall in love with them. Those owners of EV I know are having a lot affair and I am one of them. What about you?
