Electric cars, they are about to be everywhere

(12/1) Luddites.

As most all of us devise ways to have a working relationship with our electronic devices, we might poke a little fun at modern day Luddites, those among us who are not tech savvy.

Luddites’ conflict with technology was their employers unwillingness to train them for the new job skills needed as modern techniques replaced old methods. In their case, technology to produce textiles, such as woven cloth. They were left without a steady way of making a living. They were left hungry after working to produce cloth and profit for mill owners.

There have been and always will be new methods of production, accepted by some, scorned or even violently rejected by others. But time and again, better methods are adopted because they make profit, and, as a byproduct, improve people’s lives. Innovators see it first.

Progress wins.

In the1800s an idea was formed—the horseless carriage. An early innovator was Alexander Winton.

Winton claimed the milestone of selling the first automobile in America in 1897. He later wrote about the hurdles he encountered in being pointed out as "the fool who is fiddling with a buggy that will run without being hitched to a horse." And told "You’re crazy if you think this fool contraption you’ve been wasting your time on will ever displace the horse." Winton describes in the April 15, 1911, issue of the Saturday Evening Post how he responded to this criticism with a clipping of published interview with Thomas Edison, which Winton kept in his pocket:

"Talking of horseless carriage suggests to my mind that the horse is doomed. The bicycle, which, 10 years ago, was a curiosity, is now a necessity. It is found everywhere. Ten years from now you will be able to buy a horseless vehicle for what you would pay today for a wagon and a pair of horses. The money spent in the keep of the horses will be saved and the danger to life will be much reduced."

"It is only a question of a short time when the carriages and trucks of every large city will be run by motors. The expense of keeping and feeding horses in a great city like New York is very heavy, and all this will be done away with. You must remember that every invention of this kind which is made adds to the general wealth by introducing a new system of greater economy of force. A great invention which facilitates commerce, enriches a country just as much as the discovery of vast hoards of gold."

Just after the turn of the twentieth century, Henry Ford, a contemporary of Alexander Winton, began to turn the horseless carriage idea into reality for everyone. Put a motor on a carriage and see where people could go. What a fiasco that would be! A horseless carriage! People thought he was crazy, who would give up their horse?

1910s-a decade later the motorcar was all the kids could talk about.

1920s-another decade passes and the national Highway system was underway.

1930s-a decade of depression, with massive job loss but increases in mobility. Workers and their families became mobile, able to move with job and even modest leisure opportunities.

Electric cars, an idea and innovation beginning in 1828 were overrun by Henry Ford’s cost cutting production methods, as well his willingness to pay employees a real living wage, turning them into consumers.

Decades later debates raged about electric vehicles. That’s crazy, who would give up their car (as if electric cars aren’t cars).

In the1960s people started to notice pollution problems and got vocal about them.

In the 70s, 80s and 90s some people lobbied against producing more pollution, some lobbied for their right to live regulation free, some people invested time and treasure into innovations for more efficient energy production.

By the 2000s people (consumers) started attending to climate change, greenhouse gases. Hybrid cars reached the market. By late decade, fully electric cars are starting to sell. People are excited about no more trips to the gas station, charge ‘em at home. They require minimal maintenance, and have fewer breakdowns.

A decade later charging stations are popping up everywhere, I saw one in 2018 on Bruny Island in Tasmania.

A decade later, starting in 2021, all major car companies are advertising their new electric car models.

Car manufacturers didn’t start making electric vehicles overnight anymore than coronavirus vaccines came out of nowhere. Each were decades in development. That means the industry that promotes fossil fuel use knew decades ago, and knows now, that we won’t stay dependent on fossil fuels.

To paraphrase a saying that has been around since the 80s and is attributable to several people, mankind didn’t leave the stone age because we ran out of stones. We won’t leave the fossil fuel age because we run out of fossils. We progress because necessity demands innovation.

The Infrastructure Bill H.R.3684 passed in November, 2021, pulling together policies and tools that effect everyone, and connect us. One item addresses charging stations for the electric vehicles rolling off assembly lines as you read these words. H.R.3684 earmarks $7.5 billion for EV charging stations and related programs. The target is to have 500,000 public stations by 2030. The U.S.A has 20% of that now, roughly 100,700. These stations are expected to charge an EV to 80% capacity in 20 - 30 minutes.

The Infrastructure Bill gives you and me power to implement solutions for problems identified long ago. Having charging stations everywhere means driving electric vehicles is practical. The more electric power used for our daily needs, the more renewable energy becomes practical. Resources will be put into innovations in efficiency. Humankind can leave the fossil fuel age before we run out of fossil fuel.

The Luddites had a point. Progress wins, but it is devastating when selectively leaving some behind, and fantastic when elevating us all.