On 2011-12-10, dsi1 wrote:
On Dec 10, 9:19*am, Brent wrote:
On 2011-12-10, dsi1 wrote:









On Dec 9, 11:10*am, Brent wrote:
On 2011-12-09, dsi1 wrote:

On Dec 8, 6:50*pm, Brent wrote:
On 2011-12-09, dsi1 wrote:

On Dec 8, 4:33 pm, Brent wrote:
On 2011-12-09, dsi1 wrote:

On Dec 8, 1:57 pm, Brent wrote:
On 2011-12-08, dsi1 wrote:

On Dec 7, 5:08 pm, Brent wrote:
On 2011-12-07, dsi1 wrote:

On 12/6/2011 7:05 PM, Brent wrote:
On 2011-12-07, wrote:
You might want to rethink your logic. A lot of folks don't care
whether or not there are any advantages. The only advantage they can
see is the advantage of not having to change.

A minority so vanishingly small as to not be a factor.

I don't get your point. How can a lot of folks be "vanishingly small?"

Who are these people holding on to vastly out of date technology for
the sake of not changing? How many rotary phones do you see being used?
1970s or earlier cars as daily drivers? The people who just refuse to
change to superior technology because they just don't want to change
are few and far between.

My guess is most people in the automotive industry are scared to death
of the electric car and the changes it will bring. No transmission, no
radiator, an engine that's more like the one in your washing machine, no
exhaust, no cams, no heads, no speed/power tuning, etc. We'll still need
tires though. :-)

The discussion was regarding customers not manufacturers. Manufacturers
don't have a choice in free market conditions. They either adapt or
die. The premise, that I agree with, is that superior product doesn't
need to be forced on any one. If electrics were or become superior then
new companies would quickly displace old companies that refused to
change given free market conditions.

Let's not get sucked into this dopey topic and instead wait and see.
The winner gets to say "I told you so!"

The USA is not a free market. This is why companies seek government to
better their market position whatever it may be.

Boy, this is a tough, cynical crowd! You might be right but I haven't
been downbeaten enough to totally accept your outlook on how things
are in America.

we can't just sit it out and see what a free market will do when there
isn't one. It's like watching a cat to see what a dog would do.

My guess is that is in fact what will happen. Events will pretty much
play themselves out unfettered. There's not much we can do about it.

What will happen? regulations on gasoline powered cars become more and
more until they are more crappy than electrics? I don't see CAFE being
rolled back any time soon.

government will tax and make illegal what it doesn't like and
subsidize what it does like. Do that through enough rounds and
electrics will be the 'better' or only choice.

You're the one that said that we can't sit around. My point is that we
can and we will.

Try to comprehend the entire thing. We can't judge which is really the
superior product under free market conditions because we don't have
free market conditions. Government seems determined to make the
electric 'work' the same way it makes transit 'work'. It makes driving
more and more painful until transit is the path of least resistance. It
will do the same with regard to electric and gasoline power if it
remains determined to have electric cars.

I think you are right about this. OTOH, electric will work fine for me
although it's not really a viable option for a good number of
Americans. ???

What many people dislike about a free market is simply the fact that
other people may make different choices than they do.

This is true. ?

The numerous laws, regulations, and huge sums of money spent on
enforcement to control personal choices is more than enough proof of
it.