Originally Posted by FlyJSH

Until electricity comes from non fossil sources (nuclear, hydro, wind, and solar... in that order), an electric car is just a way for the holier than thous to tell you how "clean" their car is. It will take a long time for 50 mpg Prius to recoup the energy required to build it versus a solid late model car that makes 30 mpg highway.

And don't forget, the US has a whopping 2-3% of the worlds lithium reserves. At least with oil, we produce around a quarter of what we use.