The biggest problem western economies are now facing (not just the US…) is that the producers of essential things needed to make a living -a residence and transport- have become overpriced, and the political system is fighting any serious attempts to bring less expensive means to market because the near-monopolies who sell those means are getting regulators to obstruct the introduction of any cheaper competing products that would lead the way for new price points.
I would point to two big ones.
- Transport: Not just EVs; laws are passed to discourage the licensure of smaller and less expensive vehicles. The two red herrings used are safety (“we’re doing it to protect you!” -sound familiar?) and unfair competition. Recently in Massachusetts, there was pushback on this: In reversal, RMV will allow Japanese mini trucks to register in Mass. (link) In an exchange by news announcers, they mused at the contradiction that you could register bikes and scooters for cheap, but not these utility vehicles. Well, try using your bike or scooter in the winter, or when there’s a heavy rain, or you need to move 100 pounds of goods. That’s exactly the reason car manufacturers are comfortable with cheap transport being restricted to vehicles that do not address those needs.
While one can argue that the Chinese at times engage in asymmetric trade practices, how come to date NO car manufacturer has bothered to make SMALLER vehicles that are less expensive? I would argue that they have become addicted to the profit margins of multi-ton vehicles with tons of electronic gear.
This is a problem for VW in Germany. Unions are complaining that the company wants to do layoffs. But I would put that at the foot of the company: they never bothered to adapt quickly enough to EVs or small utility vehicles. We saw this movie before with VW. The beetle was a great car. Then when EPA rules came out, VW used it as an EXCUSE to kill off the beetle and introduce the Rabbits, <joke>which were made out of cardboard.</joke> They could have modified the engine on the beetle to be EPA compliant, but they wanted to increase profits by selling more expensive vehicles.
- Housing: provided proper sewage and electrical are planned for, many would like the much cheaper option of microhousing. But it’s an option closed off to many because of the passage of local ordinances against it. Whp’s pushing these ordinances? BOTH owners of McMansions and the like who do not want to see the value of their houses undercut by cheaper options in the area, and real estate developers.
There needs to be more pushback against the curtailment of more sustainable options for small autonomous utility transport and microhousing…