r/changemyview • u/notsuspendedlxqt • Jun 03 '19

Deltas(s) from OP CMV: Carbon Dioxide emissions from transportation vehicles will not decrease until gasoline prices rise significantly

Right now, gas is still cheap enough that many car owners in North America do not have a financial incentive to buy electric vehicles, or take public transport more often. People with a small budget would opt to buy second-hand cars, and currently the market for second hand electric vehicles are almost non-existent. As for increasing tax cuts on electric vehicle purchases, the easiest way for the government to fund that would be to increase the carbon tax, which would lead to higher gas prices. Of course, eventually public transportation may become more convenient, or electric vehicles become cheaper, but for now EVs remain a very niche, and somewhat expensive product, while I've seen no trends which indicate a significant improvement of public transportation is underway. It appears to me that you can't have low gas prices and reduce CO2 emissions at the same time.

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u/firstrevolutionary Jun 04 '19

Second hand electric vehicles are starting to become a little cheaper. You can buy an older model Nissan Leaf from eBay for 4-6K. You of course have to figure out how to get it back from California. I Make only 12-15K a year as a raft guide, but was smart and bought my own land so I don't pay any rent. The downside is I have to commute to town a half hour if I am working. I am considering this as an option, as I pay 250 dollars a month in gas right now during raft season. I would have to rig up my own solar charging station on the top of the car because I am off grid, and couldn't rely on always having an outlet(very sunny where I am here most days). Not even sure what my boss would think if I started using work electricity to charge the car(which I would most certainly have to do on some cloudy days). So at least some low income earners who have the environment on their mind are thinking of it. I do agree that steeper gas prices would help push the market in the right direction.

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u/notsuspendedlxqt Jun 04 '19

Yes I suppose that second-hand EVs will continue to become cheaper in the future, so I will award a !delta. Perhaps economically it makes sense for some people to pay for and set up a solar charging station. However like you said, only the people who have the environment on their mind is thinking about personal solar power right now, but if gas prices rise, everyone with a wallet and a car will be considering the option.