On 30 Nov 2020 at 14:58, Mark Laity-Snyder via EV wrote:

>  There is nothing that can be done to change EVs becoming the ONLY car
> that will be sold ... the only reason to buy an ICE will be if you like
> burning money.  Throw Autonomous vehicles into the mix ....  These are
> things that no one can stop because the economics will force it. 

I could be wrong, but I think that you're way too optimistic (or by some 
people's standards, pessimistic :-).  

I expect to live about another 20-25 years but I don't expect to see any of 
this happen in my lifetime.  In fact, increasing adoption of EVs will cause 
the price of liquid fuel to decline where it's not regulated.  That will 
sustain interest in ICEVs in nations, such as the US, where governments are 
fully subject to regulatory capture and don't operate in the general public 
interest.  

Nearly full EV takeover may happen in parts of Asia and Western Europe.  
There are nations that plan it that way, for good reasons, and I cheer that 
trend.  But that won't happen everywhere, and probably not in the US.  

Just as the automakers continue to sell less-safe 30+ year old designs in 
nations where safety regulations don't require vehicles to be crashworthy, 
they'll carry on selling their aging but profitable (fully amortized) ICEV 
designs in nations without environmental laws that discourage them.  

I'm also skeptical about the future of SDVs (self driving vehicles).  I 
think that they'll eventually, maybe soon, take over in closed-circuit uses, 
but probably not on public roads.  I think that they'll be pushed out for 
sale too soon, and the resulting spectacular and highly publicized fatal 
accidents will sour the public on them.  We may also see legislation against 
them.

Limited features such as driver assistance - basic Tesla autopilot 
functionality, lane-holding features, collision avoidance, "smart" speed 
limiters  - yes, absolutely.  But full self driving - I don't think so, not 
on public roads, not in my lifetime.  

I think that laws in most places will require that a driver always be 
present with hands on the wheel.  In fact I predict that hands-on-the-wheel 
violations will become big money-makers for local police, the way speed 
traps are today.  I wouldn't be surprised to see automakers required to fit 
police-accessible intrusive surveillance systems to enforce this.

But again, I could be wrong.  

David Roden, EVDL moderator & general lackey

To reach me, don't reply to this message; I won't get it.  Use my 
offlist address here : http://evdl.org/help/index.html#supt

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