Then what happens when the shift to electric gets serious and gasoline prices go down? It will take a while for electric cars to reach the equivalent IC price point, so the 'free market' economics may not make sense. And the change stalls... leaving us vulnerable to the next oil embargo or natural supply/demand imbalance.
I doubt we're going to be seeing gas at $2.50/gal again anytime soon. And even if we did, most people understand that that can change from one week to the next.
The markets are working precisely as they should. As gas moves up in price, people seek other means of transportation -- if it moves down, some may start to drive more, but many will continue with their alternatives. For example, if gas dropped to $2/gal, I would still have a keen interest in electric vehicles because I realize that it is a matter of time before we see $8 gas. This is something that WILL happen, and could happen without the slightest notice.
I think most people get that and will take it into account in the future car buying decisions.
Still, this is the reason we need to becomes less dependent on foreign oil -- it may take 5 years, 10 years, or 15 years -- depending on the price of oil. Reducing foreign oil dependence is just prudent behavior because we don't know what the oil markets will do in any short term time period.
Bush's proclamation regarding OCS drilling has clearly taken some of the edge off oil prices, and if it were to actually receive approval, e.g., in FLA, the price could drop substantially. But people are still going to be interested in alternatively fueled vehicles. |
