WRITTEN BY BJORN LOMBORG ON DEC 2, 2022. POSTED IN LATEST NEWS
Lomborg: The Muddled Reality Of Electric Cars
Germany, the U.K., and Japan, among other countries, will even prohibit the sale of new gas and diesel cars within a decade or two.
@rangerrebew This is already an approaching realty in the US.
Don't believe it? Go car shopping.
I recently had to buy a new car to make out of town dr appointments after my 03 $300 4 cylinder Ranger pu died on me.
Went to the local ("local" in this instance means 30+ miles from home) Honda dealer first. "We don't have any new cars in stock,but we are exepecting 23 this month. They are all already sold,but you can put your name on a list with a small deposit to hold one if one of the people who ordered one backs out."
Pretty much the same thing at the local Nissan dealer. Only new Nissan they had on the lot other than the smallest ones sold that I am too crippled to get into was a 100+ grand sports car,that would have been impossible for me to get into.
"We will be happy to order you one for future delivery,though."
Drove my the local Ford dealer and didn't even stop. Only new vehicles he had in stock were 1 ton and larger trucks.
Got home and looked up the local Toyota dealer,and found my dream truck. Half-ton 2 wheel drive with the 4cyl engine,auto trans,short bed,and extended cab (NOT crew cab). Best of all,it was white (I live up a dirt road) and had tan upholstery.
Went to town the next morning to buy it,and someone had bought it the night before. The closest truck they had in stock was a 1998 model that was black with 100k+ miles.
Tried to get into the smaller cars they had on the lot,and couldn't do it without bumping my head. Kinda a disappointment because their smaller cars have good ground clearance,and the island I live on has the road flooded a lot of times.
Then the sales lady remembered the sales manager was driving a white 4 cylinder Camry,and I bought it even though it had black cloth upholstery. Had close to 600 miles on it,which didn't bother me at all because that means that if there WAS anything wrong with it from the factory,you KNOW the sales manager had it fixed. Had to pay full price,but they did give me a 500 dollar veterans discount,and got one of the lot boys to drive it home for me while I followed him in my 4x4 3/4 ton diesel pu,and took him back to the dealership in the car.
I am just too crippled up to fix them anymore,and since ALL my doctor appointments are at least 30 miles away one-way,I had no choice but to buy a new one.
Pretty happy with the Toyota,though. Damn thing gets 40+ mph in local driving,and up to 52 MPG on road trips out of town. My old Ranger only got 18-20 MPG. Of course,it was paid for,so that gas mileage didn't bother me.