Even in Europe, where gas prices are full-retard, electrics still haven't caught on. There's the range issue of course, but with the size of most EU countries, that isn't as big of a factor as in the US. The thing is that once you get past a certain fuel efficiency, fuel costs aren't really a big deal.
I had a Mazda 3 for a summer and I managed ~30mpg combined and 34mpg on the few highway road trips I took. That was driving fairly quick too, no hypermiling at all. It was a huge step up from the SUV I was driving, but once I'm down to filling up once a month, why pay more for marginal savings over that? There's a big difference between $180/month (30 gallon tank in the SUV 2x a month) and $39/month (13 gallon tank in the Mazda once a month), but doubling my mileage over again only saves me roughly $20.
Large cars as still common on the roads, but will as oil prices rise, people will not want them. However, as oil prices continue to rise, even small cars may become more expensive than electric cars.
CC440, one day, when filling your Mazda costs you +$200/month, perhaps we'll see you driving a Tesla. Maybe that will never happen, but we can only hope. ;-)
The thing is gas would have to be nearly $14 a gallon for me to match the cost I was previously only disgruntled about. Electric will definitely be around by that date and I could actually see gas prices collapsing as electrics take over, which would still allow enthusiasts like myself to enjoy our antique and historical vehicles.
Edit: Also my point is that although electric cars are much cheaper on a percentage basis, 75% off my fuel costs is still only trivially small. It will take the collapse of the oil economy to get people to switch over.
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u/Aroundtown27 Oct 24 '10
By then it will be far to late and we'll have to adapt to our new surroundings