Bazz,

"My friend does not get the service done on his car as when asked what
they do the girl said, OH change the oil and oil filter brake fluid
etc. Hmmm said my friend I won't bother"

I like that, about par for the course; many years ago a friend had a Citroen 'Goddess', which was ultra modern at the time and a great car, but as various service centres stuffed it up, even to driving it off the hoist (lowered!!) and ripping out some hydraulic lines.
He was an estate agent and needed his car a lot, so he reluctantly sold the Citroen and bought a Holden.

Having made a life and a career in the automotive design and engineering industry, and being an oldie, I felt that change would be hard for me. Apart from the 'romance' of the motorcar, which anyone like myself would see it as our 'first love', the idea of courting a new 'girl' is a little distressing. I have in the past been (and still am) very critical about EV's and the like because there was never an efficient, affordable solution in sight. I do not subscribe to embracing new technology 'at any price', because it does not fulfill one of the factors which make a new idea a 'good idea'. So if the cost of the initial purchase is not at par or cheaper than its predecessor and it will cost me the same or less to run/keep and the time it takes to re-charge (filling up) takes the same or less time as the fossil fuel cars, and I don't have to spend a fortune ten or so years down the line to replace the batteries, then I will not consider this new technology, and neither should the rest of the world. I have not seen a Tesla cheaper than about $160,000. so I don't know where the price quoted earlier comes from. We have a mongrel govt which has already been punishing us for having one of the highest standards of living in the developed world. They have continually raised our cost of living, for example, forcing us to buy new cars by making laws to remove the older ones from our roads. Then it follows that they have a guaranteed form of income with all the taxes and fees associated with the purchase of a new car. We already know that we are paying way more than the rest of the world for the same car and yet no-one gives a crap. So it will be some time before I will stop driving my fossil fuel 'antiques', because I'm not paying these prices and getting punished just to please a few idiot tree huggers!

Bazz a peer reviewed paper published in a German scientific publication has answered the question of EV emissions.

If only electric vehicles world wide, they would reduce current emissions by 4.8%.

However as the majority of them are in China where most electricity is produced in old coal generators & a few EU countries, they currently produce more CO2 emissions than would a similar age fleet of petrol cars.

See the German, in English, No Tricks Zone blog for details.

OK Hasbeen I will have a look at that blog.

Altrav, well sooner or later those of us still around might well have
to drive what is available. Bear in mind that by that time long distance
trucks will probably be a dying breed. In the US they are installing
natural gas refuelling stations along highways for trucks.
Things are changing and freight is already moving back to rail.
There has been a large upsurge in rail freight over the last few years.
This is partly because trans move eight times the ton miles than
trucks for the same amount of fuel.
Also two men instead of perhaps 100 truck drivers.

As far as the cost of batteries is concerned already there are now
companies that exchange, repair and recondition batteries.
If a number of cells stop working the cars monitoring system can
pinpoint which cells are faulty and replace those cells.
In fact it is a job you can do yourself if you are electrically
knowledgeable.
You need to be as the battery voltages are around 400 volts.

Tesla's model 3 is selling for about US$30,000 but A$50,000 here.
TGARO !
Well Altrav it is not as dismal as you portray, I have driven a
Nissan Leaf and I can tell you it was really a pleasure and a quiet
and smooth experience. Dinosaur drivers need not apply.
However you petrol zoom zoom heads can stay with your Dinosaur
FJ Holdens etc.

BAZZ I know what is coming. I suppose it's more about change for me. I am familiar with this new world order, I probably am having trouble accepting it. As we are an engineering family we have already experienced EV's when some thirty years ago one of my brothers built one. As you can imagine the charging time and range were appalling. It was part of a learning curve for us. My reluctance is purely as if I am losing a 'loved one'. I look forward to the EV's, but not if we are going to have to compromise in some way. I must admit I have not heard of this Tesla Model 3, and at $50,000 I would still be reluctant to buy one. It sounds like it would be of similar size/category to the Toyota Corolla. If so knowing the cost structure of EV's versus piston cars, it is WAY too much. I have critiqued EV's from the beginning and I have always been aware of the development that has been going into this industry, but my criticism has always been about value for money. I like the 'feel' of an EV, don't get me wrong, it's just that I will not accept a new/good idea if it doesn't tick ALL the boxes. One day I know they will but in the meantime I don't like being the guinea pig and taking all the risks that are associated with the development of a new product.

There is a problem with electric cars that is seldom mentioned.
Is there enough lithium to produce enough batteries for all the worlds
cars, and can the lithium be economically recycled ?

A group of chemists did a study of all elements in the table and
compared each element with all the others and came to the conclusion
that we have found all the better combinations already.
People keep waffling about how in the future batteries will be much
larger capacity and lighter but I suspect it is just that, waffle.
Solar cells with a 100 times more output may just manage to make the
car toddle along but such cells do not seem to be possible with the
amount of energy arriving on one square metre.

If my suspicions are correct there is a long term problem.
Do we abandon the idea of personal transport altogether ?
Can we use the pod system proposed at various times ?
That is tracked vehicles on major routes that you hail, board, punch
in your destination and it takes you there getting its power from its
rail in whatever form that takes.

Mercedes is experimenting with overhead wires for trucks on autobahns,
as per trolley buses.