Wife and I were discussing battery life and EV vehicle pricing tonight. She drives 135 miles a day to and from work(roundtrip). We buy a Camry LE for 27k I can and have kept them on the road for over 300k. With her rate of 36k a year we get our money out of these cars and replace them about every 8 years. Now the problem. Today I read average EV car is 60k. Battery price is what 15k. If the battery only lasts 100k that means I have to replace it at least 2X. That is another 30k added to the 60k or 90k total in 8 years vs 27k every 8 years. Yes, the batteries do degrade. My friend that was an early Model S buyer said initially the car would go 180 miles on a charge. Now 8 years later it goes 130 miles. Fine for her as she drives 30 mile round trip and husband installed a 220 charger(yep, he is an engineer). As I have said elsewhere, in 30-40 years the tech could have these batteries down to briefcase size and EVs cost may come down to be competitive. But for many, myself included, just due to cost an EV is a NO. For the wife, it is a HUGE NO.
Lets not base any of this on facts. EV's are driven by emotion (at this stage of development). Definitely not something for most people, but they do suit a very minimum number of people's needs. Just plan on not going anywhere far, towing anything, etc. Think of it as a glorified golf cart that makes you feel good about making sacrifices so that "others" can still live the life they want.
