The point I'm making is we've paid for it in the past, we pay for it in the present, and we'll pay for it in the future. Corporations pay for the R&D so they have a chance to get us to pay for it in the future, instead of paying someone else.

So when someone says "Who'll pay for it?" the answer is easy, those of us with jobs, same as always. The roads did not build themselves, gas stations and power plants didn't just pop up, and if new energy sources become available that are cheaper than current ones, we'll be buying them too. Gasoline isn't getting any cheaper either, so there are strong incentives to find other ways to do things.

Don't get me started on the state of politics in the USA, that is a whole different thread.

 

Battery technology has not kept pace with other developments in transportation because it did not have to, till now. Now that our government has seen the need to stir the new developments pot, we are getting some new, albeit limited results. Edison's lead-acid cell design (1903? read Interstate Battery) is still being put into new cars today. That has to change. With new battery developments underway, I'm hoping that today's new ($1.00/AH) battery designs will finally make an all-electric vehicle possible.

Regards, DPW [ Spent years making heaters out of op-amps.]