It's actually easy, but we need to temper our expectations. You could have an EV revolution if we could build a city car that costs a fraction of the cost of an automobile and doesn't go very fast and doesn't go terribly far, but everything is piled against what is a practical solution.
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The concept of using already existing technologies in smart ways won't make anyone rich, so it is laughable -- nobody is going to go along with something that could change things but won't line the pockets of politicians or megacorps.
We compete with shittier products all the time. That's part of the power of capitalism, that you buy the product you actually need rather than the platonic ideal of the product, then you can pay less and use less resources so you can spend those resources on something else you need instead. You could buy a desk calculator with an i9 inside, but sometimes you just want a desk calculator.
There's a market for inexpensive city cars, but they're straight-up illegal in most cases because they're not like an internal combustion engine automobile and the laws are set up for those vehicles. Just deregulate city cars, make it easy to build, own, buy, use, not by paying a bunch of money, but by getting government out of the way, and lots of people who aren't in the market for a full automobile (and many people who are but don't need something fancy for their morning commute) could suddenly get their hands on them.
I'm convinced that you could build something fit for personal travel in a part of a city you live in that's weather proof and relies on stuff that's already commonplace, and get the BOM down the the point that you could sell it for around 5 grand or less. Relax insurance requirements while you're at it, since a little 5 grand city car isn't going to have the same capacity to damage anything or anyone as a full size automobile.
But no, we need to build EVs that are equivalent to ICE cars and cost many times as much and aren't practical to drive to the next city because that's what everything is set up to expect, particularly legally.
There's a market for inexpensive city cars, but they're straight-up illegal in most cases because they're not like an internal combustion engine automobile and the laws are set up for those vehicles. Just deregulate city cars, make it easy to build, own, buy, use, not by paying a bunch of money, but by getting government out of the way, and lots of people who aren't in the market for a full automobile (and many people who are but don't need something fancy for their morning commute) could suddenly get their hands on them.
I'm convinced that you could build something fit for personal travel in a part of a city you live in that's weather proof and relies on stuff that's already commonplace, and get the BOM down the the point that you could sell it for around 5 grand or less. Relax insurance requirements while you're at it, since a little 5 grand city car isn't going to have the same capacity to damage anything or anyone as a full size automobile.
But no, we need to build EVs that are equivalent to ICE cars and cost many times as much and aren't practical to drive to the next city because that's what everything is set up to expect, particularly legally.
