One problem with this excitement is that today's battery technology revolves around the lithium ion battery. Lithium is very flammable and this technology has seen more than its share of fires, from lap tops, cell phones, Dreamliner Jets and electric cars as well. This should make anyone who parks their car in the garage at night a bit nervous.
Lithium is also in short supply, with electric cars making up less than 1% of new car sales. As battery production is expected to increase significantly in the next few years, it will be hindered by supply shortages and significant cost increases.
Tesla, (the most subsidized car company in the USA) is producing a large battery plant for its vehicles in the state of Nevada. The problem is that this isn't new technology, they are still using the lithium ion battery. Tesla appears to be in the same boat as other manufacturers in this regard, using lithium ion batteries.
Tesla has invested big dollars in installing battery chargers throughout the country. That's a good thing for the short term, but what happens when technology and reality finally catches up with Tesla or it's competitors and the switch is made to exit the use of the very rare and flammable lithium ion battery?
People buying today's all electric cars run the very real risk of quickly being stuck with yesterday's dinosaur technology with no upgrade option for the future and possibly only their home to charge them in; remember nickel cadmium? Batteries all also have one inherit trait, every day makes them less efficient and closer to death, whether you use them or not. The warranty is nice, but as mentioned before that may be a moot point when they are no longer produced.
I dislike electric cars for other reasons, besides the fact that they use a rare, very flammable fuel storage source. Batteries are just plain inefficient. If you put 100% of electricity into a battery, you may only have 80% to pull back out. You simply don't get the energy out that you put into them. Furthermore, just something as fickle as the outside temperature can make what energy that is in the battery be wasted alarmingly quick and with no effort from the owner. A 200 mile range gets a giant chop when driving in freezing weather. That's before you switch on the heater and the heated seats and the rear defroster and heated mirrors. Conversely, driving in hot weather will also reduce range (to a lesser degree) as the AC use kicks in. Heat is hard on batteries and most actually fail during the summer season.
In comparison, I can hop into my reliable 2015 Golf Sportswagen (diesel) car that costs significantly less than an electric car, (even after including the ridiculous EV subsidies) and achieve 47.5 highway mpg all year long. The car runs on a widely available and safe fuel and I can do this with my AC or heater on, even with my heated seats, mirrors, rear defogger and headlights on as well. When I stop to refuel my 13.2 gallons it can take me less than 5 minutes and I am then good for another 627 or so miles. I can park my car in my garage with little fear that it will spontaneously combust and I know that it has the potential to be good for use decades from now, whether I use it now or not.
I could pay a bunch more money and buy an electric car that takes me about 30 minutes to charge, every 80-200 miles in an unusual best case scenario. Sales will inevitably increase for these subsidized electric cars and as they become more popular (to the 1% and beyond) the lines will begin to form charging stations. The lines for charging your EV car in some areas may take hours. No Thanks.
The last time I considered leasing an electric car as a second car I wondered if, in a pinch I had to drive out of town for for an emergency because my loved one was flown to the hospital from a serious accident, involving our main car, how fast could I safely get there? If I had a "partial tank" in my diesel car I could refuel quickly on or along the way, if I was in an EV and had a "partial charge" it would take more than one recharge stop along the way. That dreadful thought was enough for me to turn to diesel reliability for my second car as well. Today's electric cars are already dinosaurs on the edge of either drastic redesign or extinction, either way, with no inexpensive battery upgrade solutions it's a clearly a bad investment to buy one.