[gwicks56]

It's not quite so simple though is it? Electic cars require a lot more resource intensive mining to make, and I believe you are looking at around 50,000 miles before a Tesla is better for C02 ouput than a prius? And an electic Hummer is going to be worse for the environment than a Prius no matter how many miles it's driven?

[bryanlarsen]

Despite how hard it is to get the lithium and how easy it is to get the gasoline, replacing 50 tons of gasoline with 15 kg of lithium is almost guaranteed to be less resource intensive.

The 50,000 mile number is based on calculations based on when batteries cost > $300/kWh to make. A large part of the reduction to the current cost of $100/kWh is reducing the amount of energy needed to make the batteries. Current estimates are under 10,000 miles. But they compare like-for-like, and a Model 3 is bigger than a Prius, so it'd be over 10,000 miles.

Your last statement stands alone. Yes, if we convinced every pickup truck driver to drive plug in Prius's...