Okay, guys. I can't take it. There's so much fail in the few snippets posted in the OP, they just have to be addressed. I won't read the entire article and give the site another hit, but I'll just hit on the few points billcihak quoted:
Environment — Apart from the concerns above, the manufacture of these batteries — and especially their disposal — will create massive environmental problems. Rare-earth elements necessary to their production are rare indeed in the US, which means we will have to increase our dependence on Asia for those commodities. The manufacture of battery arrays is notoriously bad for the environment, and we’re now talking about multiplying the need per car. Disposal is even worse; it will make the environment more toxic rather than less, and the long-term prospects for manufacturing aren’t good unless we find greater reserves of these elements
Modern Lithium Ion batteries don't use the exceedingly expensive metals that early batteries did (cobalt). The type of batteries used in the modern EV (and laptops, cell phones, hearing aids, cordless drills and everything else) are lithium iron phosphate batteries, which are not hazardous waste and are approved for landfill disposal. Yup. Here's a plain language article that discusses the differences between lithium ion batteries using cobalt and the advantages of the modern lithium rechargeable battery.
http://www.environmentalgraffiti.co...thium-iron-battery-better-lithium-ion-battery
This isn't to say that things can't be improved. But the idea that modern lithium batteries are hazardous waste is a blatant falsehood.
Sustained value — There isn’t any in the Volt. For the sticker price — even with the subsidies — it’s underpowered and undersized compared to the rest of the market. Thanks to a massive battery replacement cost at somewhere around the 8-year mark, there won’t be any trade-in or resale value for the car, either, which is why lessees are highly unlikely to buy the car from GM at the end of the two-year lease. Without that battery replacement, the Volt becomes an underpowered, undersized, and overly expensive internal-combustion vehicle.
This might be true for the Volt. I don't know. The Volt is in a funny place and truthfully, the niche that these cars are being sold to is the commuter car typically bought specifically to drive into the ground. But with that said, resale values are actually holding steady:
http://www.hybridcars.com/news/nissan-leaf-and-chevy-volt-resale-values-holding-strong-46711.html
Will they stay there? Hard to say. For the purposes of this thread though, it's enough to point out that the assertion that the Volt won't have strong resale value is largely baseless wishful thinking of someone with an obvious bias.
My personal opinion is that the Volt will become a niche collectable, like the DeLorean. And truthfully, I don't expect that the early EVs will resell all that well, either, but I think it will have more to do with advances in technology. I just think that in 4 or 5 years, we'll be seeing significant advances. Look at the difference between a cell phone now and one of just 10 years ago.
But, on that note, we've had conversations in the past, and it may very well be that when practical minded folks like Bill Mattocks look for their next low cost car, it could be an EV, and the total cost of ownership for a low cost, early model EV might be better than even a late model Geo Metro.
Energy — Much is made of the cleanliness of the plug-in chargeability, especially in ads for the Volt and the Nissan Leaf. But about half the energy to recharge the battery comes from coal, which is the main contributor to American electrical production.
Couple of points I've mentioned several times on this subject.
First, that coal powered energy is about 99% made in America.
Second, that same coal powered energy is used to refine the oil that makes the gas.
The internal-combustion engines in most cars are more efficient at using gasoline, with the ability to control emissions better, too.
An EV emits zero emissions. There's no exhaust. This is a ridiculous statement.
Thanks to a raft of new EPA regulations on coal, electricity production will be declining since other technologies aren’t ready to take its place in terms of mass-production capability, which means that the lengthy recharge will end up costing consumers more than a trip to the gas station — and that gets more pronounced the more vehicles we move away from gasoline and onto an already-limited electrical grid.
There is plenty of electricity on the "grid." And the creation of better storage and creative uses of EVs to feed electricity back to a grid when not used to move the car are making other forms of electricity viable.
Once again, we've had these conversations before. Electricity is regulated. As the price for gas fluctuates wildly, I have continued to pay $.11/kwh for my electricity. I can budget for it. It costs me between $30 and $40 per month to run my car, depending upon how many miles I drive.
The electricity in Washington uses almost zero coal and is largely hydroelectric or nuclear. We also have wind and geothermal.
Ultimately, there are legitimate downsides to EVs, but I can't understand why genuine, American loving conservatives don't at least acknowledge the tremendous advantages of breaking the monopoly that Big Oil has over us, and of weaning ourselves off of our dependence on foreign energy. It genuinely baffles me.
