I drive a 2008 Toyota Solara with slightly over 100,000 miles on it. The car was obviously paid off over a decade ago. Now that I am retired, I only figure to drive 2-3,000 miles a year. As a result, the car costs me practically nothing, and I have no incentive to exchange it for a new one any time in the foreseeable future.
For Biden’s environmental plans to work, he needs to provide enough sticks and carrots for people like me to give up our gasoline powered cars in favor of shiny new electric models. What incentives can he possibly come up with that would be adequate to persuade me to invest a large chunk of my retirement savings for that purpose?
I can’t envision a subsidy that would be large enough to do the trick; the government would essentially have to buy the car for me. Improved mass transit is not the answer in rural and suburban areas, either. The only way I can see Biden getting to Point B would be to ban the sale of gasoline. Even a carbon tax wouldn’t work unless it is truly massive, which doesn’t seem very plausible in today’s political climate.
If this makes you think there is no perfect solution to the retrofit problem, you’re right. Gas powered cars are going to be with us for decades, even if the automakers aren’t building any new ones.