I feel like progress in these areas is usually resisted because people (myself included) have an emotional investment in what we grew up with, what is in our memories, and what was cool when we were young. These new electric performance cars are pretty amazing...and for the generation growing up on them they will be nostalgic. The Tesla S is a mean machine! I still like the smell of an old muscle car idling, the sound of the engine revving and loading up, and the simple operation and handling.
I'd love to have a Demon and if they end up cheap like Hemi cars during the gas crunch I'm buying one!!
With me that isn't the case. The utter simplicity of an electric vehicle is a plus for me. BUT, I still have concerns about:
1) Where is all the electricity coming from to support all these electric vehicles?
2) Where are all the rare earth metals necessary for battery manufacturing coming from?
3) What is going to be done with all of the worn out batteries when they are replaced?
4) How are roads, bridges, and highways going to be built and maintained when the gas tax goes away?
5) Will taxpayer money still be used to subsidize the EV industry?
I'm not trying to be a Debbie Downer but I think a lot of the consequences of an all electric fleet haven't been thought through. The current rush to EV technology is eerily reminiscent of the early rush to nuclear power. How'd that all turn out?
These are all great questions.
1) The infrastructure, power production, and power grids will have to be updated and modified/expanded as the demand grows.
2} As more and more of these vehicles are produced mining new materials is not feasible. Technology and facilities for recycling, remanufacturing, and rebuilding the batteries/motors/ electronic components will have to be developed and built.
3) Same as above - they are toxic waste!
4) Here in Washington my friend with a Nissan Leaf EV is paying $600 for car registration, Over $300 of that is for road maintenance, in an attempt to make up for lost gas tax. I'm not sure about other states.
5) I sure hope not...but once the EVs become more and more common and the price of electricity rises (like diesel did when diesel trucks became more popular) I'm sure the government will figure out some way to tax it.
It makes sense to me for urban area commuters to use electric cars, they're quiet, clean, and it's easier to put emission controls and scrubbers on a few huge power plants than on every single car. It doesn't make sense for rural dwellers, trucks, farmers.
