We don't have the time to sit back and wait for the technology to mature. The world is burning, for some (many) of us literally.Given how long those batteries last, I don't see recycling being a problem. Those systems have time to be established in the degree necessary. We are already seeing the problems of trying to produce so many batteries so quickly. Not just a shortage of the raw materials, there are not enough manufacturing facilities to meet current (low) demand. In time, those problems will be solved at an environmental price of its own. Infrastructure however, everything from charging stations, home chargers, power grid and more clean energy available to support widespread adaptation is far from being in place at this time. This changeover, wether you believe it or not, will not take place in entirety until all these issues are solved. I foresee at least a decade even with government mandates before this can be even close to happening. To mandate people adopt this technology before it's ready is to invite widespread failure initially and delay it's adaptation.
Here are some things where I don't agree with your opinions:
We're not (that) short of capabilities, we are short of will-power and political clout.
How long have scientists been telling us we must act? Since the last 20+ years at least. We had years to get this show on the road. Corporations chose not to go there, because the pressure from the governments (world wide) wasn't there.
Why are we continuing to let corporations get away with that ship (t)?
I don't want to hear anything about how "scientists keep changing what they tell us we need to do", or how "none of what they said has come true." This is literally how science works.
We don't KNOW exactly what is going to happen, because it hasn't happened yet. We can look at patterns and come up with estimates, educated guesses, and forecasts. If the results are different, we update the forecast models and try again.
There is no government mandate for people to switch over to EVs. It's a mandate for manufacturers to increase their production of EVs. You, as a consumer, are free to not buy one.
The technology for both the vehicles as well as energy storage is already mature, if not as robust in its infrastructure application as it needs to be.
The first modern Hybrids came out before my son was born. My son is 25. The first BEV for the mass market was actually produced in 1996: Chevrolet's EV1.
A couple of years prior to that Chrysler already had a short run of 57 electric vans (the TEVan), while Ford built a Ranger EV, and GM had an electric S10.
While none of those vehicles were produced in significant enough numbers, we're looking at almost 30 years of R&D.
And that isn't even looking outside of this country. We all know that Nissan came out with the Leaf that did make it into the mass market well before Tesla became the household name.
Looking at your profile I think I see a Prius, so I am really hard pressed where you're coming up with any of your doubts in the technology.
Our charging network already covers 95 to 98% of the country:
I bought a BEV last year April. From day 1 (one!) I was able to charge at home, no special equipment needed.
You too, today, have the capability to charge a BEV at home (unless you live in an apartment complex without parking next to your building). You can charge your car from a 15 Amp 110 Volt outlet. Slowly, but sufficiently fast for most daily driving.
Can we all just stop drinking (insert mega corporation of choice)'s Kool Aid and realize that they don't care about us, or what happens to us? They all got their's, and that bunker in New Zealand.
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