Probably worth noting that the "Dust Bowl" would not have happened if it weren't for the human impact on the environment. I'm not suggesting that humans were responsible for the high winds and hot weather but they were very much responsible for the removal of the drought resistant natural grasses and all the exposed topsoil that led to the dust storms.

It's 20 million per year for the last decade or 200 million people for the entire decade

That's an excellent point. By calling it a Mustang they are generating a lot of buzz that they'd never get otherwise. It would be just another EV from a manufacturer whose previous attempts failed to gain any traction.

I'm not 100% on board with the idea of a Mustang CUV but it does combine two things that Ford has done a decent job with, - at least in terms of reputation. And by calling it a Mustang you'll get more people to test drive it than otherwise would. I'm pretty convinced that test driving an EV will make people want one. They are fun to drive.

Finally, though I think it's kind of sad, smaller SUVs have in a way become the modern equivalent of what the original Mustang was. Those first Mustangs weren't really sports cars. They were "sporty" and there's a difference. And the first word in SUV is "Sports".

The subsidies help people farther down the car food chain as well. How? Since the tax incentive lowers the effective cost of a new EV, it also lowers the cost of those same EVs once they hit the used market.

Example: Let's say the list price of an EV is $40,000 and the tax incentive is $5,000. The buyer is effectively paying $35,000. Now let's say they trade in the car a couple of years later on the latest and greatest. The dealer now has a used car that theoretically was worth $40,000 when new. But you can't price it accordingly when new ones only cost customers $35,000. So instead of say knocking $8,000 off the list price of a new one (as an example), they have to knock maybe $7,000 off the net cost. So now the dealer is charging $28,000 for that used EV instead of $32,000.

Of course I'm much farther down the food chain, or at least I behave that way on major purchases. I bought a 6 year old Chevy Volt for $12,000. A car that listed for $46,000 with all the options. And yes, I'm sure the incentive makes a different all the way to me, although it's obviously makes less difference the older a car gets.

Having said that, the incentives were really targeted at cars like the Nissan Leaf and Chevy Volts of the world and not so much the Teslas. And I think it makes sense at this point to limit the incentives to cars under a certain price.

Nissan Leafs have a really poor system for battery thermal management which is why their range degrades so quickly. Even Chevy uses a much better system in their Volts and Bolts. If you're going to buy a used EV, stay away from Nissan, especially if you're in a warm climate.

Still, replacing the battery in an EV is a major expense and eventually it will need to be done. One reason it's so expensive is that every manufacturer has its own propriety pack and the designs are changing on a regular basis. As the technology matures, there will be more standardization and hopefully 3rd parties will develop after-market packs that will be much cheaper.

To me the market value of the car isn't as important as its utility value and the cost to replace it. You might have an old but perfectly reliable pickup truck that needs new tires, a battery, and an exhaust system. Those could add up to more than the pickup is worth in terms of market value, but that doesn't mean it's no longer worth replacing those things.

If a vehicle is getting so old that it's no longer dependable in spite of regular maintenance, or there's so much corrosion that it just doesn't feel safe, then it's time for it to go.

Sorry, we've been very happy with the VOLT, not BOLT, - though I'd really like one of those.

If taxes are progressive then no. Most of the tax money would come from affluent people, not people who are struggling. And only half of the incentive in this story is coming from the government (taxes) anyway. The rest is coming from the auto industry itself, - funded mostly by people buying expensive cars with high profit margins, - which aren't electrics.

The other thing that your argument forgets is that these subsidies also bring down the costs of used EVs. How? Take me for example. I bought a used Chevy Volt a couple of years ago, - which was a couple thousand dollars cheaper than it otherwise wold have been because people buying new Volts got a $5000 tax credit. Assume a list price of $35,000. Actual cost to buyer after the credit is $30,000. Now, if I'm the market for a used Volt, I'm probably not going to spend $27,000 or more on a used Volt even if it's only a year or two old when I can get a new one for $30,000. So the cost of used EVs are also lowered. And the benefits continue as the cars age.

My Volt was 6 years old when I bought it so of course I spent MUCH less, about $12,000, - which is far lower than what a working class person would likely spend on a new car anyway. And it's about the same as you'd spend on similar quality ICE vehicle of the same age.

So for me, that subsidy brought the price down enough on a used Volt that I was able to convince my wife to spend the money and give an EV a shot.

We tend to buy Hondas but we've been very happy with the Bolt. Chevy did a decent job on this car, - the 2nd Generation isn't quite as robust in my opinion but that's a different story. The Bolt also appears to be a very nice car.

If you've never driven an EV, you really should just take one for a test drive.

In other words, rather than arguing endlessly whether air pollution is a genuine problem or not, then arguing endlessly over who's responsible and what do about it, they're actually taking steps to address the problem. And in the process they're producing products that they can profit from.

Sounds like something we used to be pretty good at in the US, - investing in the future.

Now what we worry about is short term profits and keep taxes low for wealthy people and businesses.

More electric cars were sold in China in 2018 than in the rest of the world combined. The Chinese government spend $60 billion in the last decade to help jumpstart the EV industry there. They plan to spend at least the much in the coming decade. Plus they are actively limiting the amount of licenses for gas vehicles that can be obtained.

Sounds like they've bought into the environmentalist religious totems in a big way.

and Canada's. :)

China, India, and Africa are dumping plastic into Lake Michigan?

It's fine to recognize that other countries have environmental problems, - often more severe than we do. But nothing China does is going to fix the problem of plastics in the Great Lakes. That is our responsibility (the US).

It was ridiculous from the PM of Denmark's perspective and probably important for her to say so to reassure the residents of Greenland. Trump's ego shouldn't be her primary concern.

There are standards for EV plugs already. I can take my 8 year old Chevy Volt to virtually any EV charge station aside from Telsa's and plug it in. And I'd expect them to be more standardized in the future. Yes, they will require more power than your block heater does, but I expect the cost per installation to be far below $1000 in the not too distant future and very likely the apartment owners will get substantial rebates and/or other incentives to install them.

I would guess that even today if apartments starting adding a few of them and renting these electrified spaces as an add-on to tenants they'd be able to attract a larger pool of renters. The last apartment I rented charged extra for a garage. I see this as just another amenity like that.

It's not like ICE's are going to disappear tomorrow. It's going to be a multi-decade process.

My experience with most concerts is that it's much faster to get picked up overall. If you drive, you're either in a ramp or lot which will take forever to get out of. Or you parked far away that will require that you walk a distance. And you're probably paying for event parking if you're in a ramp or nearby lot. If you've done some partying, before, during, or after the concert, a ride home might be advisable anyway.

And again, that Uber ride costs $20 now because you're paying for a driver. Once they've moved to autonomous vehicles, the cost will be much less.