The CAFE Standards and the Future of Cars

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I think the peak oil obsession, as we've talked about here before, is oversold. I don't think it's necessarily true that gas prices will continue to rise steadily. It could be a car that comes to market in 2010 and no one needs it, no one wants it. Or it could be the opposite. Nobody really knows.

Jonathan Rauch, of the Brookings Institution and the Atlantic Monthly, talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about the evolution of the Chevy Volt, GM's planned electric car. Due to the transparency of GM's effort, Rauch was able to spend a great deal of time on site at GM writing a piece for the Atlantic Monthly on GM's plans and hopes. Rauch discusses the huge risks, GM's past failures, and GM's hopes that the Volt might change the company's culture. The conversation closes with a discussion of competitors and the implications for energy policy.