The OP's smackdown of Paul's questions should be rebutted by all. Don't start a bragging thread, make poorly worded claims about pricing and modernity, and then refuse to defend one's claims. It's simply a bragging thread unless willing to defend assertions and claims.
It's all well and good to talk about the future as if it is today, but that's simply slighting the working man and the poor.
I'm reminded of the mid-20th century when the assumption was that Americans all lived in new housing developments and had dishwashers, central air, and lived like the Brady Bunch. That was a lot of hype. It ignored fully half of the county probably, where people still lived in home with septic tanks or even outhouses, heated with coal oil/floor furnaces/space heaters/wood stoves, washed dishes by hand and used steel wool on pans, and most had not a shred of insulation until sometime in the 60's or 70's.
The same thing happened again with the tech boom. Suddenly there was a clamor to pretend like anyone without the newest smart phone was a Luddite, that books were already bonfire fodder, and that characters in movies who "drew" in holographic interfaces with computers were the state of the art. Clue. It's not here today, and smart phones, for all their hype, have brought as much trouble as benefit to societies.
And there was the recycling wave. People were shamed for not claiming the virtue of being carbon neutral. Nevermind that the plastics industry lied across the board and the government helped them to do so. MANY of the plastics sent to recycle were burned in incinerators to drive power stations or were simply dumped in the landfills anyway. Still are. Those were the "good" countries. The lazy ones threw it in the oceans.
Now, it's the electric car. It will become the "coming thing" when it is affordable, not before. MSRP on a new Ford F-150 is about $29k, but we're hardly all buying new full-sized trucks in America. Far more people buy them as status symbols than need them for doing actual work.
The poor have been compelled to keep cars for about 13 years, compared to the middle class who keep them for 9:
https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a22815727/america-household-vehicle-age/
Talking about "new car prices" is a bit misleading. The average American doesn't buy a new car, but a used car, for less than $20k, and for those with low incomes, the average is closer to $9k.
https://www.concannonbc.com/how-much-does-a-typical-american-actually-pay-for-a-car/
So, bragging about $40k being typical for a new car price ignores the reality that most Americans cannot afford a "new" car. And Household Finance 101
always tells you that you should avoid car payments as soon as you can. That may mean a) buying economical cars until you work your way up to higher incomes, or b) buying used cars, or c) buying a really cheap car with no payments or payments only for a year or two and trading your way up as you can afford. And of course, the fourth alternative is to not buy a car if you don't have to and use other transportation, including paying a relative/roommate/partner to transport you until you can get your own. One of the biggest traps young people fall into is buying into the brainwash that everyone must have a new or cool car to be respected in society.
And remember that those high prices for new cars are a bit like furniture prices. They have to be jacked up to ridiculous levels so that car salesmen can claim they are "saving" you $6k or $9k from MSRP, while they actually average that lower price once all rebates, discounts, and whatnot are applied. Anyone watching television can see endless car commercials and know that the companies are trying to brainwash you and spending BIG BUCKS to do so, passed on in that $29k price tag.
The electric promise is also a lie until power plants are not fueled with fossil fuels. Even though electric may be cleaner at the car, it's still dirty if it sees more coal and natural gas burned to fuel those cars. And, the batteries have to be disposed of, with heavy metals, so electric isn't ideal, only better, if we can afford them.
I'm all for moving forward, but it will be with the proper government subsidies, as the companies are still in league with Big Oil and won't be moving away from it without the government's sugar teat.
