The economics nor the
The economics nor the environmental impact support the thesis that EV vehicles cost less to operate and have less of an impact to the environment. EV ownership should be classified as an emotional purchase that appeals to both internal and external motives just as purchasing a Ferrari, large pickup/suv, motorcycle appeal to their owners in different ways. The AVERAGE life of a vehicle on the road in 2014 is 11.4 years and increasing, so all cars should be measured on lifespan operational costs which could run 10-15 years or more as you discard a new car, there are new buyers in the used-car market. For EVs, operational costs include replacing expensive battery packs, chargers and other associated electronics which are prone to wear out over this period. The energy it takes to create a new EV vehicle more than offsets the pollution generated from say an F-150 pickup that may be on the road for 25-30 years or more. Power generation and delivery for EV's is just displace pollution, which benefits citys where displacing pollution help their local environmental conditions, but there is no net benefit compared to a fuel sipping car like a Nissan Versa. Artificially reducing the cost through subsidies only wastes resources and props up specific corporate and political interests. If you are truly off-the-grid with solar and have reached a low point of consumption so that you are fully independent of the power grid, then I suspect your energy costs over the 20 year life expectancy of the panels would not be near to offsetting the capital you had to invest (and reinvest) for the panel system. There are some emotional benefits and possibly real benefits during the brief times that power delivery from the grid is interrupted, but overall an EV is more polluting and costs more to operate than a small ICE equivalent.