President of Ford Canada Says "We Need Higher Fuel Prices"

The Globe and Mail notes that a Detroit Electric car cost $ 2,600 and had a range of 100 miles, while a Model T cost $ 650 and had a range of 180 miles; even 95 years ago, electric vehicles were a tough sell.

from TreeHugger.com
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto

Here is a surprise, coming from David Mondragon, the President of Ford Canada:

It's hard to believe that I'm going to say this, but we need higher fuel prices.

He says the higher prices are needed to entice consumers to buy smaller cars like the Fiesta and encourage the market for electric cars.

Greg Keenan writes in the Globe and Mail:

Oil prices will rise to $100 (U.S.) a barrel in the not-too-distant future, he said, which will help encourage drivers to buy more fuel-efficient vehicles.

But Mr. Mondragon said it will take oil prices higher than that level to get drivers to trade in their internal-combustion-powered wheels for electric vehicles. Without government incentives to buyers of electric vehicles, oil prices will have to be as high as $120 to $140 a barrel to make economic sense for consumers, he noted.

There are also a lot of problems to be overcome besides developing a charging infrastructure and reductions in the cost of the cars.

"For battery electric vehicle customers, there has to be a behaviour change," Mr. Mondragon said. "You have to charge every day and you have to think about how far you're going on each trip."

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