What are the biggest challenges in getting consumers to transition to Alternative Fuel Vehicles?
Take the most obvious issue. Nobody wants to buy a vehicle that runs on some alternative fuel, even if it is identical in every way to the conventional vehicle — same power, same range, same comfort, same leather seats, same options — unless they are sure they can get fuel for it whenever and wherever they might want to drive. At the same time, energy suppliers aren’t going to be willing to invest the billions of dollars in infrastructure to provide fuel stations unless they are sure there is going to be a market. This is a classic case of what is known as a “network externality.” It’s a lot like the story of personal computers, where the computer that people find most attractive isn’t necessarily the one that is technically best but the for which there is the most software and that everyone else uses,, which builds the advantage of the dominant platform even further. So, there’s a tipping point leading the society to get locked in to the dominant technology—gasoline powered internal c
