In most American locales you need a car. In 2004 we bought a used 1st generation Prius on eBay for half the price of new. We drove 300K on it at 44mpg average and then traded it (with a good result!) for a 2008 Prius in 2012, again about half the price of new. We drove 250K on it averaging 48mpg and we’ll trade it soon for another used plug-in hybrid. And our other car is a 100% electric Nissan Leaf (also purchased used, an amazing car).
Friends-and-family responded to these purchases with incredulity: How will you replace the battery? They’re not proven/reliable! They’ll never hold the value! Aren’t they small? You have to plug in your car? So many ridiculous gripes (we even moved a washer/dryer in the Prius!). Ultimately in 16 years we consumed ~12K gallons of gas instead of ~22K from a standard 25mpg cars, saving nearly $25K in fuel costs.
People who drive traditional Hummers get 9mpg. That would have been over 61K gallons of gas compared to our Prius-lives. And since people DO enjoy these massive luxury tanks, if they can make batteries that give the same vehicle 400 miles on a charge with no emissions then I say Yay! Also, electric cars don’t require oil — my favorite feature of my Leaf. So yes, there are consequences to producing electricity, but there are solar and wind and hydro possibilities — look at Iceland. If all cars, even big ole Hummers, can get away from destructive oil, gas and emissions it can only help.
