Consumer reports "Volt doesn't really make sense"

[CosmicCowboy]

I saw this too, but their goal timeframe is 2030. Something better will hopefully be around before then

The iBattery will totally kick their ass by 2025...

[RandomGuy]

These analysis really miss the point.

An electric drive train requires A LOT LESS MAINTENANCE than a single traditional combustion engine.

Heck there are hybrids on the road with 200k + miles that still don't need a brake change and the single most prevalent maintenance act is the battery packs can be had for less than $500 at times.

That 40k car can last 40 yrs with minimal maintenance.

Yes it costs a lot, I agree...it's expensive. It will come down in price at some point.
You can build your own an electric car for 5-10k+ including all parts and donor vehicle.

So go ahead and s out 15k less for a F-150 that maybe will last a decade before it needs a major overhaul. They use electric motors on the drive trains on heavy machinery like trains for a reason.

Yup.

One does have to, as CC rightly pointed out, consider the full range of costs, such as battery pack replacement.

That said, recent breakthroughs mean that the costs of those batteries will go down by 1/2 every 5 years, this cost will be substantially less than it has been in the past.

If one amortizes the price of the batteries and adds that to the cost of fuel, which is reasonable given the battery life depends heavily on the usage, then it becomes a better comparison, IMO.

Batteries + electricity vs. oil, filters + gasoline

I would guess that if you did that calculation on a per mile cost, the costs probably are fairly close.

If one keeps in the back of one's mind that the cost of the latter will be going up, and the cost of the former will be going down, the economics will increasingly favor the electric vehicle.