Could High Gas Prices Somehow Be A Good Thing?
July 17th, 2007 by Daniel I’ve always thought of myself as being quite an optimist, but it’s hard to imagine that there could actually be a positive thing to be taken from already high, but still increasing gas prices. Gas prices are probably about the biggest complaint you hear about in the U.S. today, especially here in the Metro-Detroit area and it’s one of our countries biggest economic concerns as well. So, what good could possibly come from this? Well, it appears that electric car sales have increased along with the prices at the pump. Also, sales of more fuel efficient compact cars have risen as well. This kind of rise in demand could be exactly what the industry needs to spark more research and development in greener technologies for the auto industry. If people start trending more towards transportation that uses less gasoline, the automakers will have no choice but to begin competing for the consumers business by producing more and more efficient vehicles or even make an electric vehicle for the more standard buyer. So far, most electric vehicles on the market have not been ideal for the average driver to use for going back and forth to work, but rather for people going short distances at low to medium speeds. Soon, there are going to be several electric entries into the high-end sports car genre, but still, that leaves out the average consumer. With the high gas prices and increasing demand for alternative fuel vehicles and more efficient vehicles, we should begin seeing electrics that are being designed for the average consumer with competitive pricing. We can only hope that this trend of buying more efficient vehicles will continue even if the gas prices eventually go back down a bit, but it is encouraging to see something positive coming out of a situation so negative.
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Olde English D
CarJunky.com
Chicago Tribune
