FYI, Norway plans to stop selling cars with internal combustion engines in 2025. Last year (2020), over 50% of the cars sold in Norway were EV. They have aggressive incentives (reduced taxes etc.) to drive consumers to EV. Another sign of where the world is headed... https://www.reuters.com/business/au...mustang-tops-norway-car-sales-may-2021-06-01/ Of note, Tesla's market share has dropped significantly in Norway as traditional competitors have expanded their EV lines. It will be interesting to see if we see the same here. Lets face it, Tesla doesn't have the distribution reach of GM, Toyota, VW, etc.
I’m currently in Stockholm Sweden and no less than 70% of vehicles are hybrid if not all Electric. You rarely hear an engine running. A lot of Tesla’s too. And interesting enough over 5000 vintage American cars are imported each year to Sweden. I see them on Friday nights cruising around the city blaring old school rock n roll and, believe it or not it’s legal to have alcohol in the car, only the driver can’t drink, it’s a rolling party! Also and interesting side note, I have been here a month and have not seen a single gas station, not one!
...and the USA is not one of them. Most states have laws restricting open containers of booze, but Connecticut, Delaware, Mississippi, and Missouri do not. Tennessee, Virginia, and Rhode Island have laws that apply to the driver, but not passengers. Edit: Missouri allows passengers in a car who are over 21 to have open containers, but not the driver.
If you have an empty beer can in the bed of your single cab truck or truck with a sliding back glass here in SC you're getting an open container ticket
In Washington state the open container has to be accessible to the driver(ie you can have an opened wine bottle with a cap in the trunk), so empty cans in the bed are ok! Also, John didn't mention Texas, which at least used to allow it (including the driver). I was driving through Fort Worth in the 90's and there was a drive through liquor store and to my disbelief they offered me an open container in the drivers seat. I just did a reality check and it looks like this changed in 2001. Now Texas has an open container law too.
It is the states that make the driving/drinking laws, not the Federal Government. I stand by what I wrote. I should mention that there is a Federal law that blocks the transfer of federal highway funds to states the don't have open container laws, but there is some fine print in the law and it doesn't seem to be widely enforced.
In Louisiana, the 1” piece of paper or that covers the end of the straw, or the tape over the hole in the lid, on your drive thru daquiri means it’s not an open container. If you remove that piece of paper, though, that’s on you! Patrick
I feel like this post has lost its way so let me stir the pot. I think the other side of this is that once the USA gets to a certain level of EV sales we will see taxes on gasoline increase (except perhaps agriculture). I think that's a decade away but I think we will see both incentives for EVs and disincentives for gas vehicles. I know some folks have said EVs are not "practical" for a long time but this article points to a real-world example of what could be coming to the States sooner vs later. I know Norway is a small country compared to the USA, but the extent to which they have converted to EV is impressive.
The people of the US are very resistant to tax hikes. Politicians who want to raise taxes have to be careful not to hurt the poor, and the poor are least likely to adopt EVs and most likely to be hurt by higher gas prices. Patrick
I have been trying to ride at least 10 miles a day at the lowest power setting possible. One knee has issues that would have made this impossible without an assist at times. There is one steep hill on a busy road I have to use for for a tenth of a mile. I crank it to power setting five and it is like pedaling with Saquon Barkley’s legs! Half the time I mean to ride it, my younger son is already out on it. It is a lot of fun. Cheryl
