blake murphy wrote:

> well, inertia is one of the problems. we took a fork in the road (so to
> speak) favoring the gasoline-powered automobile some years ago, and now
> there *is* that huge investment in that infrastructure, and consequently
> big money to be disbursed in political contributions and the like to make
> sure that infrastructure (and the profits therefrom) remains in place.

My guess is that you came of age during the 60s - at least that would be
the thinking of that generation. However, if they can build electric
cars that fits the needs of a lot of folks, it might make those external
forces you mention, irrelevant. I'd like to think that there are some
social forces and movements whose course cannot be changed by special
interests and a lot of money.

>
> the change will come when it is forced upon us when the oil runs out (which
> will be pretty soon) at a greater expense and with greater dislocations
> than might have been strictly necessary had we had some foresight and
> planned better for that event.

My guess is that we'll make the transition into the electric automobile
smoothly. Look how well-accepted the hybrid has become. The idea of the
hybrid is pretty dumb from an engineering standpoint but we need to have
transition vehicles like that in order to move from gas to electric.



>
> your pal,
> blake