How environmentally and economically sound are electric vehicles? Is their widespread use feasible and practical?

Background:

Here are some issues to consider, but, of course, there are many more, and you will not be able to consider all the issues in your model(s):

• Would the widespread use of electric vehicles actually save fossil fuels or would we merely be trading one use of fossil fuel for another given that electricity is currently mostly produced by burning fossil fuels? What conditions would need to be put in place to maximize the savings through use of electric vehicles?

• Consider how much the amount of electricity generated by alternatives such as wind and solar would need to climb during the twenty-first century to make the widespread use of electric vehicles feasible and environmentally beneficial. Assess whether or not the needed growth of these alternate sources of electricity is likely and possible.

• Would charging batteries at off-peak times be beneficial and increase the feasibility of widespread use of electric vehicles? How quickly would batteries need to charge to maximize the efficiency and practicality of electric vehicles? How would progress in these areas change the equation regarding the environmental savings and practicality of widespread use of electric vehicles?

• What method of basic transportation is most efficient? Is the efficiency of different methods dependent of the nation or region in which it is used?

• Pollution caused directly by electric vehicles is low, but are there hidden sources of pollutants associated with electric vehicles? Gasoline and diesel fuel burned in internal combustion engines for transportation account for nitrites of oxygen, vehicle-born monoxide and carbon dioxide pollution but are these bi-products something we really should worry about? What are the short and long term effects of these substances on the climate and our health?

• How would the pollution caused by the increasing need to dispose of increasing numbers of large batteries effect the comparison between the environmental effects of electric vehicles versus the effects of fossil fuel-burning vehicles?

• You also should consider economic and human issues such as the convenience of electric vehicles. Can batteries be recharged or replaced fast enough to meet most transportation needs or would their ranges be limited? Would electric vehicles have only a limited role in transportation, good only for short hauls (commuters or light vehicles on short trips) or could they practically be used for heavier and longer-range transportation and shipping? Should governments give subsidies to developers of electric vehicle technologies and if so, why, how much, and in what form?