I find it kind of funny that people make such a fuss about Electric cars being essential to environmental well being when in fact they are actually about as awful for it as normal cars. In fact, it's one of those concepts that, despite being incredibly counter-intuitive, are actually kind of crappy for the environment (like recycling paper!).
Now before I get drowned by a giant wave of "BUT IT DOESN'T USE GASOLINE!" Obviously this is true. But gasoline isn't the only part of a car that's bad for the environment. What else is it about a car that hurts the environment? Well...everything. Cars are complex machines. Mining the steel and aluminum frames required to make their chassis, mining the nickel and iron used for the engine blocks, refining crude oil into the plastics for other components etc. etc. etc. are all things that use up raw minerals, and ever hated "industrial power" to obtain. Not to mention that putting the damn things together takes up and wastes a far amount of energy and material anyway, with or without gasoline it can still be a harmful endeavor.
But running on little to no gasoline is an improvement right? And every improvement counts! Well no, not really. People don't seem to realize that batteries don't grow on trees. Especially batteries that power a car wholly or in part. Making a normal car battery is bad enough. Making one to power a whole car is exponentially worse. Making a battery generates ENORMOUS amounts of waste. This would be fine, except for the fact that most electric cars use lithium batteries. Lithium batteries begin degrading literally the second they are manufactured, and don't have any real lasting capacity. You will have to replace it. And while replacing batteries isn't quite as bad using gasoline in the long term, it would take a long time of driving an electric car to make the payoff worth it. This is assuming that electric cars have a long functional life. They don't.
Q.E.D., the absence of electric cars as a predominant form of transportation isn't a result of greedy close minded corporate fat cats, wringing their fattened hands at the thoughts of stamping all over those dirty proles. They're simply infeasible in the long run. If you want a way to help the environment, cheapen manufacturing and make it more efficient.
Edit: riftinducer, thanks for beating me to the punch on hydrogen cells. I was going to mention them, but forgot. Also, god I love Top Gear.
