03-11-2022, 11:38 PM
I can easily imagine Corporate America... and tax authorities... adjusting. At some point, when electric cars become commonplace the states will need to tax energy used by a consumer in his car (generally a good proxy for wear-and-tear on roads), impose shadow tolls for miles used (which would be the same for a dirt road as for a high-cost expressway), raise registration fees (or link those to miles used) as a substitute for highway taxes.
With government services of any kind one pays one way or the other. I might find a way in which to avoid a dollar-per-mile toll, but I wouldn't dodge three cents per mile (which is roughly the gas tax per mile in Michigan). How the states and municipalities exact taxes is ideally a wash.
I can imagine businesses now selling gasoline to sell electric power. Businesses either adjust to novel technology and consumer trends or die. (Most gas stations in America are also convenience stores that nearly break even on motor fuels but make their money off snacks, sodas, beer, cancerettes, etc. Restaurants could offer "Eat here and recharge your car here" as you recharge the battery outside while dining inside. So could hotels and motels. Convenience is precious for anyone who has no desire to waste time.
Lithium is of course recyclable... is there a viable and cheap substitute, like calcium metal? Calcium is about as reactive as lithium, but it is also heavier. It is also far cheaper than lithium.
With government services of any kind one pays one way or the other. I might find a way in which to avoid a dollar-per-mile toll, but I wouldn't dodge three cents per mile (which is roughly the gas tax per mile in Michigan). How the states and municipalities exact taxes is ideally a wash.
I can imagine businesses now selling gasoline to sell electric power. Businesses either adjust to novel technology and consumer trends or die. (Most gas stations in America are also convenience stores that nearly break even on motor fuels but make their money off snacks, sodas, beer, cancerettes, etc. Restaurants could offer "Eat here and recharge your car here" as you recharge the battery outside while dining inside. So could hotels and motels. Convenience is precious for anyone who has no desire to waste time.
Lithium is of course recyclable... is there a viable and cheap substitute, like calcium metal? Calcium is about as reactive as lithium, but it is also heavier. It is also far cheaper than lithium.
The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the dedicated Communist but instead the people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction, true and false, no longer exists -- Hannah Arendt.