@stranger_in_a_strange_land Actually, there are two challenges I see on EVs.
1) Lithium-ion packs are still expensive. They are coming down, but it still costs quite a bit for a pack that will get you a range comparable to a tank of gas (~300 miles). While most people don’t drive that far in a day and thus could get by with a 60 mile range (or less if they can charge at work), that would require Americans to change their habits, and that won’t happen.
2) NiMH battery technology is owned by Chevron. The Rav4 EV had a great pack; they lasted for a decade or more, had great range, weren’t huge and heavy like a lead-acid pack, weren’t nearly as expensive as a LiON pack, and Chevron will not allow large-format NiMH packs like the Rav 4 EV’s ever again if they can help it. In fact, Toyota had to pull teeth and suck dick to get replacement packs for the aging Ravs.
That means that for EVs to be truly successful, one of two things needs to happen. We need to do more research into LiON batteries, especially in our ability to produce them at a lower cost, and we need to kick Chevron right in the balls with steel-toed boots (spikes optional).
@ItsAHabit Actually, they are produced, but most of them are crippled by legislation that is slanted towards Big Oil and Old Detroit. With the exception of the Tesla, every factory EV I’ve seen is limited to 25 MPH not by power or engineering, but by law. Accordingly, they are also prohibited from travelling on most main roads (those with a posted speed limit of 35 or higher) since they cannot (or rather, _are not allowed) to travel the speed limit on those roads. Some states allow a higher limit (can do 35 MPH and travel on any road with a posted limit of 40 or less) but that is rare.
It’s not that people don’t want them exactly; it’s more that Washington and Detroit don’t want them and thus are stacking the deck in a way that makes many sheeple not want them by enacting biased legislation.