The ugly economics of green vehicles

Via ABG:

"The ugly economics of green vehicles: All of us want cleaner cars, but how many of us are willing to pay for them?"

http://green.autoblog.com/2014/09/19/ugly-economics-of-green-vehicles/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

While I'm in general agreement with the author's points, note that he is the same guy who wrote an article giving some really fatuous reasoning for not getting a Hyundai Tucson FCHV (there were plenty of GOOD reasons for him not to get one, but he ignored or rationalized those).

He who ignores history is bound to repeat it. Or, in this case forget to mention how a similar situation resulted in a different scenario than what the naysayers insisted would happen.

In the late 1890s and early 1900s, many pundits railed against the automobile as a noisy, dangerous, pretentious conveyance for the rich. There may not have been outright government subsidies then, but rampant political cronyism ensured that roads got built, despite being bad for the prevailing horse-drawn vehicles of the time. Bicyclists, who had championed the laying down of pavement, soon found themselves pushed aside as cars got faster. The critics lambasted the automakers for wrecking the idyllic vision of horses, carriages, and bicycles.

However, those rich car buyers manged to change more than just the immediate landscape. Sparking more and more sales of high-end Packards, REOs, and Duryeas, the field soon attracted entrepreneurs who envisioned gasoline-powered vehicles within reach of pockets with fewer dollars. Enter Henry Ford: The rest is history.

The ugly economics of the plasma TV:

"Also in 1997, Philips introduced a 42-inch (107 cm) display, with 852x480 resolution. It was the only plasma to be displayed to the retail public in 4 Sears locations in the US. The price was US$14,999 and included in-home installation."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plasma_display#History" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

There wasn't a single outlet that didn't pronounce HDTV dead within a couple of years of its introduction - given that the sets were expensive and there were very few HD channels.

Carrying that analogy further - I've to say hybrids (and plugin hybrids) sound more and more like "HD-ready" TVs.

Ofcourse changeover to EVs will take a couple of decades instead of under a decade it took for HDTVs.