Lots of good comments here.
I unsubscribed from Autoweek because I felt like every article about electric cars had some headline that was meant to get you scared. Scared that the thing you've been doing is on the way out. But then that is one way to get attention- and to get people to click the link.
So good for JG to bring up the subject without scare tactics. The fact is that this is a discussion that will be had whether we as enthusiasts like it or not. Might as well take a seat at the table. So much time and energy (not to mention money) is/was/will be spent on these machines. It's frustrating to think that it might go away. It is true that things are changing, we are on the cusp of a big change in the auto industry. The flip side to that is we are likely decades away from the days when it becomes hard to find gas stations. Think about it. Many major car companies are putting a date on it, like by 2030 no more ICE. Audi just stated they are no longer developing ICE (fine tuning, just not developing). Ok fine, so by 2030 no new cars with ICE will be produced, so by 2031 or so, there will be no new cars sold with ICE. But all those people that bought their brand new 2031 ICE powered car will have a right to use that expensive item until it wears out. So 20-30 years? Or are we just going to take away people's cars? Are we paying them? Who pays for it? Are we going to add to the deficit to buy back people's perfectly useful cars? That is the reality. Not to mention, there are many many people that don't have access to a plug at home, because in my neighborhood, many many people don't park in a garage. I live in a city, and there is a long way to go in terms of infrastructure before electric cars become practical for the people who park on the street. It is simply unreasonable to expect that they will spend 20-30 minutes (or whatever it is now) at the recharging station just for a partial charge. We have a long way to go in terms of infrastructure. Electric cars are possible now for many people (still expensive), but simply impractical for many more people (even if they could afford one).
One thing that really frustrates me about all of this stuff is the fact that (as JG pointed out above), a large portion of the electricity being produced (60%) is produced by burning fossil fuels (coal 20% and natural gas 40%).
https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/electricity/electricity-in-the-us.php
Coal!! Can you even believe we're having this conversation about electric cars and nobody is talking about coal? Zero emissions from an electric car. Seriously? All right, problem solved. Nothing coming out the back of the car. Lets all celebrate!
29% of the greenhouse gas emissions comes from transportation (which is cars, trucks, ships, trains, AND planes). When 25% of the Greenhouse gas emissions already comes from producing electricity, are we really accomplishing anything by switching to electric cars?
https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/sources-greenhouse-gas-emissions
What will the overall reduction in greenhouse gases be? I'm certain it's measurable, but it seems that we will need to look beyond passenger car emissions if we really want to get serious about reducing greenhouse gases.