tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5649887104105216342.post7058996235832674237..comments2024-02-12T00:37:40.170-08:00Comments on Patrick Barron, an Austrian Economist: My Letter to the NY Times re: Government Support of Tesla MotorsPatrickBarron@msn.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15099283038936284127noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5649887104105216342.post-39653808177285702752010-07-08T05:42:42.055-07:002010-07-08T05:42:42.055-07:00Here's my simple recommendation--if all-electr...Here's my simple recommendation--if all-electric cars are such great ideas, then the government need not burden the taxpayer with direct or indirect loans to the car markers. The same with wind power, solar panels, and all the other anti-hydrocarbon ideas. We are going bankrupt chasing mostly pie-in-the-sky solutions to problems are most make believe anyway.PatrickBarron@msn.comhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15099283038936284127noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5649887104105216342.post-85839922717125484302010-07-01T10:03:18.361-07:002010-07-01T10:03:18.361-07:00Linda,
What rational evidence can you provide tha...Linda,<br /><br />What rational evidence can you provide that the Tesla is a "useful idea," beyond being useful to the investors who own the firm? Assertions are not evidence. And you haven't even begun to answer any of the questions that Mr. Barron poses in his letter. To cite but one example, where do you believe owners of the car will obtain the electricity needed to recharge the car's batteries, especially when travelling away from home?<br /><br />The car is visually attractive, and, like all electric motor driven vehicles accelerates very briskly. But when it must negotiate a corner, it must slow down to very low speeds to allow its mass to go around the corner because of the <b>enormous mass</b> of the lithim-ion batteries. For less money ($80K), you can buy a Lotus <i>Evora</i> that will match or better the Tesla on any curvaceous tarmac, and achieves an EPA-certified 35mpg using readily available gasoline, or gas/ethanol mix, with proven engine technology.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5649887104105216342.post-75022140300686763692010-06-30T21:39:33.426-07:002010-06-30T21:39:33.426-07:00The fossil fuel industry is heavily subsidized fro...The fossil fuel industry is heavily subsidized from start to finish and there is ongoing policy and financial support for obsolete automakers and yet, they still can't turn a profit on a reliable basis. Then, there's also accidents like the Gulf oil fountain, the $15B a month we're spending on the wars and the $40B a month we spend on oil imports.<br /><br />That's $40B a month to make people who hate us rich and $15B a month to make sure they hate us more....<br /><br />And you're claiming we shouldn't loan Tesla $0.5B to remodel a factory in the US, that will pay US wages and US taxes and produce electric cars that they already have deposits on.<br /><br />You sir, must either work for GM or the Saudis.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5649887104105216342.post-69189176594274275592010-06-30T09:00:43.806-07:002010-06-30T09:00:43.806-07:00Linda-
Please stop typing before you hurt yoursel...Linda-<br /><br />Please stop typing before you hurt yourself. I'm all for Americans decreasing their environmental impact, but feasibility still means something.<br /><br />The market and demand for $100,000 electric cars accounts for maybe 1% of the population. It's asinine to think that someone would invest in a company based on its potential years down the line. The company is already riddled with debt.<br /><br />"I'm hoping the sleek look of the newer model Tesla is planning to build will attract customers because of its sleek appearance. Folks really care for appearances."<br /><br />Yea, that really worked for GM and Pontiac. They had some of the best looking cars, but they were not economically efficient and lacked in quality. How about Tesla focuses on producing an economically viable car before they start worrying about appearance? Is that so hard?Mikehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13127484916543211476noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5649887104105216342.post-82478435648057020652010-06-30T07:59:12.679-07:002010-06-30T07:59:12.679-07:00Amazing. It is difficult for anyone who has a use...Amazing. It is difficult for anyone who has a useful idea which will help make the country a bit more free of the perceived need for hydrocarbons to get any aid from the United States government. Now someone has done so. So naturally the criticism begins. It is as if electric cars, wind farms, solar panels and other things of this sort threaten many people's fixed notions of the way their world is supposed to be. Americans are even suspicious of more widespread use of efficient public transportation. After all, using such things on a large scale is a new, (and therefore risky) idea. Or, perhaps, is an attack on the widespread American delusion such green ideas are simply not practical on a larger scale and endorsed only by tree-huggers and the like. <br />I'm hoping the sleek look of the newer model Tesla is planning to build will attract customers because of its sleek appearance. Folks really care for appearances. Whatever gets more of the petroleum guzzlers off the roads is a very fine thing. So much government money is wasted on truly wacky projects. Why should anyone be bent out of shape by this perhaps not so wacky expenditure?Lindahttp://iamsilverweb.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5649887104105216342.post-72570959068668757972010-06-30T07:05:19.438-07:002010-06-30T07:05:19.438-07:00Um... "" are not parentheses, they are q...Um... "" are not parentheses, they are quotation marks.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com