The more EVs penetrate the market the less vulnerable we are to oil price spikes. Oil has been the rate limiting reagent of our civilization. That is ending.
But then you have the aspect of electricity generation. Did you know that the US currently generates 4 times as much electricity from oil as most renewables only excluding nuclear (hydro, solar, wind).
Our society is steeped in oil, it's beyond cheap, and there's no indication it's ending any time soon.
This is incorrect. As of 2021 the United States generated about 0.5% of its electricity from petroleum. It generated 9.2% from wind, 6.3% from hydro, and 2.8% from solar.
You can get a used Nissan Leaf for <$10K now in good condition with enough range for most commuter needs, and those things are super reliable and require virtually no maintenance.
I guess we should not do anything if it can't immediately be made affordable to everyone in the very first generation. So we should never have done ocean travel, air travel, non-emergency medicine, higher education, personal computers, ...
Everything is always expensive when it's new.
I agree that current inequality is excessive, but the argument I made applies if there is any inequality at all. There has never been a human society with absolutely zero inequality. If there is any inequality at all there is always some "trickle down" effect in the form of aftermarkets, priming of industrial production leading to future lower prices, etc.
It's possible to simultaneously acknowledge certain "trickle down" effects and believe they can be beneficial while also being in favor of reducing inequality.
That's only possible because the negative externalities are not priced in.
You can get from point A-B in supreme comfort, in cars that cost half that, or that have twice the mileage. The reason cars are instead bloated and have low mileage is because of American's fetishization of size, and the ratchet of the safety arms race. To break out of this tragedy of the commons, the tax-code needs to incentivize smaller cars, electric cars, flexible work-arrangements, etc... and disincentive larger cars.
And to your point; those stupid poor people (your words) buy used cars, and these used cars were originally the wasteful new cars that the selfish sociopathic rich people (my words) bought.
not that I think the theoretical reasoning will work, but it is at least plausible, and not only for consumer vehicles.
Yes this is a very simple car, but this is now less expensive than a similar gasoline car.