Cost to charge:
Thus far in August $32 for 1000 miles, July was $58 for 1600 miles, June was $69 for 1900 miles. A total over the last three months of 4500 miles for $159. Those same 4500 miles at 25 MPG would need 180 gallons. 180 x $3.50 = $630 for gas. In reality the gas costs would have been more since gas has was much more expensive than $3.50 in June and July. So lets say $159 electric vs $700 gas. A savings of about $180-$200 a month. Plus the maintenance cost savings. The maintenance is effectively tire rotations and cabin air filters for the first 100,000 to 200,000 miles. Much less than the maintenance for an ICE car.
Battery degradation:
EVs do not have such a short expected EOL. Auto makers warranty the battery for 8 years 100,000 miles. Car batteries degrade much more slowly than people think. Real world usage has shown about 10% degradation over the first 100,000 miles on average. The initial burst of degradation is most dramatic and then slow and linear after that. So at 200,000 miles it should at around 18% or so. Still plenty of life. Using my Mach e as an example it would take me about 13 years to reach 200000 miles and I would have about 257 miles of range on a full charge at that point.
End of EV life:
As more and more EVs do approach their end of life, businesses will crop up to tackle recycling. As with any new opportunity to make money, people will step up to make the money.
Battery fires:
A recent study conducted by
AutoInsuranceEZ using data from the NTSB (National Transportation Safety Board) showed that electric cars in the US caught fire at a rate of 25.1 per 100,000 sales compared to 1,530 for ICE vehicles and 3,475 for hybrids.
The fires when they do occur can be more problematic as they are difficult to extinguish but they occur 60x less often than ICE cars.