We've had some changes in the taxation scheme though, so this may no longer be relevant.
Just out of curiosity, how much EV range does the Prius have? I drive 51 KM each way to/from work. So every day I drive 102 KM (about 60 miles), that's about 15 kilowatts-hours and costs $2.50 to recharge at home. If I sign up for day/night rates that will drop, but I don't know by how much.
Tesla's have a completely new set of failure cases that are exponentially more complicated.
Even ignoring the battery (and all the other gizmos an EV is loaded with), the motor controller refutes this point. Efficient, high-powered motor control in a lightweight package is a relatively new solution, and requires a lot of up-to-date electronic and sofwate design techniques. Fault-finding on one of those is no easy feat.
It also depends how you define "complicated". If you mean, "dependent on the cutting-edge of mass-manufacturing capability of almost all forms of currently produced technology", then EVs are necessarily absurdly complicated.
It would be possible to source and manufacture (and fuel!) an ICE (of somewhat comparable quality to what most people require) domestically in many countries.
Obviously this is not possible for an EV (even China has to import some of the stuff needed to make one).
For me, my daily transportation being dependent on such a complex global system is not acceptable. The current "component shortage" makes my point. How can something that is "extrodinarily straightforward" currently have a lead time stretching into the years (depending on model and country)?
I'm not saying personal ownership of an ICE is the solution, btw.
They're used much less, what kills cars are cold starts and short commutes/city driving. The average driver drives something like 40km per day, which is doable in full electric mode with a lot of plug in hybrid and won't strain the IC engine.
Full electric in the city and gas on the highway is what we should have strived for since the 2000s, best energy efficiency, less pollution/noise where people live (better for health), least amount of maintenance, least amount of change needed, no grid problem, no need to completely reshape the entire infrastructure, &c.
Full electric is nice but carrying a 1 tonne battery everywhere when most people could do with 100kg is an aberration. Most people, especially in Europe, don't need more than 100km range with the exception of occasional vacation trips.
> Full electric is nice but carrying a 1 tonne battery everywhere when most people could do with 100kg is an aberration.
Nobody was really concerned about carrying 40 liters of petrol when 10 liters would have met their daily needs.
The thing is you can fill only 10L if you want and gain the weight. An empty battery weights the same as a full one, and they're heavy as fuck to begin with.
In any major city in Europe I can rent a gas car for 60 euros a day, for this once a month event this is more than fine.
It depends if you think in term of personal comfort or in term of global optimisation/pollution. Everyone would love top have a v10 maybach, but the world would be a better place with 200km range e fiat 500.
Replacing the 1.4B ICE vehicles we have on this planet with tesla like cars is far from optimal if people use 10% of the range/perf
It's way more convenient to pump gas for a few minutes every 600-700 miles than plugging in every 20 miles. Especially since I would prefer not to charge to full; I live on a hill and pick up 1-3 miles of charge on the way out of my neighborhood, I wouldn't want to miss out on that if I filled up.