Comment Re:The old auto makers are fucked. (Score 1) 159
Affordability is important. No matter how much fantasy some want to engage in there is a huge segment of the American public and industry alike that is NOT ready to electrify.
Meanwhile we have huge new grid demands from the tech industry, a place where America remains a leader. Asking the transpiration and tech sectors to compete for electric power would be horrible policy.
We also know the writing is on the wall for ICE; in most respects electrification of cars looks like a clear winner. So why force American automakers into a horrible corner of:
1) Spending mountains of cash to try to eek out another couple % efficiencies form legacy engine tech
2) Going bust selling cars to few can afford to buy
Electric cars are not hard - battery tech is; if you can build an ICE car you can slap some pancake motors onto some wheel hubs and build an electric. Its hardly rocket science. By all accounts we already lost the battery tech race too. China, Japan, SE Asia own it. So were back to no real risk of falling behind on anything where we stood a shot at leading in the first place.
In short higher fuel economy standards achieve nothing but hurting the American public, and industry alike. They stand only to increase capital costs beyond what the fuel savings will amount to. Saving $1000 a year on gasoline so you can pay an extra $1500 in bank interest does nothing for a family. What the US economy needs at this time are cheap autos that run on existing infrastructure!