[MikeBogue]

One of the problems with the electric/hybrid cars that not many people talk about is the polution that is created from the batteries. In order to produce and recycle the batteries it requires a great deal of processing due to the more exotic materials that are being used. The same difficulty is encountered when the batteries get replaced due to age. This leads to a larger total enviromental impact if an electric/hybrid vehicle than there is with a standard gas burner. Power plants are significantly more efficient at producing power than an internal combustion engine, but if electric vehicles become popular then there is the problem that the entire country would need to upgrade the electrical grid, consider how much power is consumed every day by all of the internal combustion engines in the country.