dam1953

1. Recent developments in oil and gas exploration, drilling and production promise to make the US energy independent before the end of the decade.
2. Fracking technology promises to make oil and gas cheap and plentiful well into the future.
3. The US is not in the top-10 suppliers of lithium, the material used in today’s most advanced batteries. China is a major supplier of lithium.
4. Lithium mining operations in developing countries is creating severe environmental damage.
5. Coal, which supplies 42% of US power, is considered environmentally unfriendly.
6. Nuclear, which supplies 19% of US power, is considered too dangerous after the Japanese tsunami and new plant construction is highly unlikely. Furthermore, there is no plan for disposing/storing highly dangerous nuclear waste.
7. Hydro, which supplies 8% of US power, is considered environmentally unfriendly.
8. Wind power is beginning to demonstrate considerable, negative environmental and health impacts.
9. Considering purchase price and efficiency CNG vehicles are likely more energy and environmentally friendly that even the best EV.
10. Electric vehicles have a very limited cruising range. If the US moves toward newer diesel engine technology the efficiency differential between EVs and fossil fueled vehicle (FFV) will become even greater. It is highly unlikely that EVs will ever match fossil fuels in this performance category.
11. Numerous studies show that due to battery life limitations the resale value of EV’s will be essentially the same as that of a FFV with a blown engine. Considering that replacement battery cost is approximately 40% of the cost of many new EV’s the resale value is projected to be near “0”.

So, why are we spending billions subsidizing the development of EVs.

”It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.” Charles Darwin