Hmmm, 1973. Why does that year stick in my head? Ah now I remember. It's because we had other interests that were decidedly secondary to getting oil. If all we cared about was oil it would be plentiful, no shipping lane protection and no 1973 oil crisis. Not to mention we had just closed the gold window.
Which is the main reason I think switching to electric cars (even if it means a little government help) is a very good idea.
Ugh. If a little is good then a lot should be even better. Why subsidize $75k electric cars for the privileged when we could double or triple the subsidy and get them $150k electric cars?
Not secondary, primary. Our primary interests were not about oil, oil was secondary.
I think you are misinformed about the subsidy. It is $7,500, not $75,000. But I agree that cars that cost over $50k like the Tesla Model S should not get the subsidy. That is a luxury car and their customers are not buying it for economic efficiency. Keep the subsidy for the $35k Chevy Volt and the $30k Nissan Leaf to bring them down to $27.5k and $22.5k, respectively.
And no, you don't need to double or triple the subsidy because all you have to do is make them price competitive with gasoline cars, not make them free. Over time, the subsidies go away (each manufacturer gets 200,000 before they ramp down) so they are only there to help offset the price while the technology is new and expensive. Prices have already fallen by a few thousand dollars in the four years they have been on the market and they will continue to fall as li-ion batteries continue their downward cost trend.