NO TRUMP’S REVERSAL OF OBAMA’S GAS MILEAGE STANDARDS WON’T HURT THE FIGHT AGAINST GLOBAL WARMING. HERE’S WHY.
Are you panicked that an environment-hater like Trump is in the White House? I mean, out of pure spite, he rolled back Obama’s tougher gas mileage standards. That probably has you worried. How are we ever going to address climate change when Trump is actively working to accelerate global warming?
Well, here’s the good news! The automotive industry is a fucking money suck. It’s expensive to change product plans midstream. For those hoping for V-8s in everything: bad news. The next five to six years of product coming from the automotive companies are locked in. And that means that higher MPG vehicles are locked in. Trump can’t change that.
But wait! There’s more!
Maybe, you are thinking, the current product cycle may be locked in, but what about the product cycle following this one? Won’t there be V-8s in everything then?
Well, if the United States were the world’s biggest auto market as it was about ten years ago, sadly that day would come. But automakers hate having different products for every country, so they plan vehicles around the most stringent regulations.
Guess what? The world’s biggest auto market, and by a lot, is China. Yes, the country that invented the hoax called global warming, if you know what I mean, is also the world’s biggest auto market and it is growing rapidly. In fact, the biggest market for the storied American luxury car brand, Cadillac, is China.
In an effort to fight smog all residents of major cities are prohibited from owning vehicles that primarily run on gasoline, which is why the plug-in hybrid market is booming in China.
But wait! There’s more!
Over the next decade China is mandating that all cars sold in that country must be 100% electric vehicles. Automakers have announced huge plans to build all-electric vehicles. GM is promising 23 EVs by the year 2022. Yes, those are aimed at meeting China’s regulations.
But wait! You say, EVs are expensive! All the automakers are going to go out of business building so many EVs!
Well, put a mandate on American industry, and somehow these folks find a way to make it work. GM has promised that the next generation of electric vehicles will be affordable, and profitable.
And these EVs will be available around the globe. As I said, it is expensive making multiple versions of the same vehicle to meet multiple sets of regulations, so EVs will be the default — everywhere!
The US and its dysfunctional government has lost influence in which cars get built. China now decides. Already, automakers have stopped test-marketing and focus-grouping designs in the US. The cars you are driving now were not designed for you. They were designed to please Chinese consumers, because, in comparison to a market of billions, yeah, the USA and its 300 million is not a priority.
This might hurt the feelings of Americans, but when it comes to cars, you don’t matter any more. The car companies aren’t going to spend extra to appease you. China and Chinese consumers makes these decisions now.
That means in another ten or fifteen years, the vast majority of cars on the road will be all electric. And that means, Donald Trump and his best efforts cannot stop the coming green revolution in automotive technology.
It’s going to happen. And the USA, the Republicans, and the Koch brothers can’t stop it. It won’t be profitable to invest billions to continue supporting internal combustion technology with the rest of the world demanding EVs. So, we are stuck with Obama’s greener cars, and ultimately, China’s demand for electric vehicles.