(11-30-2023, 09:45 PM)americus 2.0 Wrote:

(11-30-2023, 07:21 AM)The Real Marty Wrote: I respectfully disagree.  There's an old saying, "Your freedom ends at the tip of my nose."  Which is to say, sometimes, your freedom infringes on my freedom, and then the government has to step in and set the rules.  In the case of what kind of vehicle you can buy, you obviously don't have any constitutional right to pollute the air I breathe, and since this administration believes we are headed for an environmental disaster in large part because of gas-powered cars, then if you believe that, you have to agree that it is the responsibility of the government to step in and restrict what kind of car you can buy in order to protect everyone else from the pollution generated by that car.  

You can argue the science of it all you want, but in theory, the government does have the right to restrict your freedoms in order to protect everyone else.

I have every right to buy a vehicle I can afford. I'm not arguing pollution, I'm arguing the option of choice. Not everyone can afford an EV. Hell, the country doesn't even have the proper infrastructure to support all the EVs these folks want to enforce. 

Build the infrastructure, make the cars and home charging stations affordable along with the cost of an elevated electric bill FIRST, then talk about phasing out the regular vehicles. 

The idiots in charge know this but are more concerned with the liberals cancelling them.

I was only arguing the very narrow point of whether the government has the right to regulate what kind of vehicle you can buy.  I was not arguing that it would be wise to do so.  Just that they have the right to do it.  And they do.  That's why we have a government- to set various rules.  

Incidentally, home charging is affordable already.  Just plug it in to a 220 volt outlet, like a dryer outlet, and it will charge the car completely in a few hours (this works if you don't live in an apartment).  You can tell the car to start charging at times when the electricity rates are lowest.  And the cost of an elevated electric bill will be much less than the cost of gas, and there are no trips to the gas station if you charge it up at home.  Besides, 99% of people's driving is around town, and doesn't require access to a charging station, except for plugging it in at home.  

About the affordability of electric vehicles, it is true that right now, an electric car will cost you $30,000 to $50,000 minimum.  But Tesla is setting up to produce a $25,000 vehicle and market them sometime in the next couple of years.  Cheap EVs are about to flood the market.  It's a huge opportunity for EV makers, and an EV is an ideal 2nd car just for driving around town.  (Road trips aren't that hard anyway, but people seem to be concerned about range.)

I know there are a lot of things standing in the way of electric vehicle adoption right now, I'm not denying it.  I just think a lot of the objections people have are exaggerated.

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