Snowman, I think you are thinking 'in the box'. You absolutely correct given current technology. The disposal of hundreds of pounds of lead acid batteries per vehicle.....yikes, not good. And they are being charged using coal fired plants......not good.
But what is we changed the model?
A) Find a better battery.
B) Change the charging and ownership model. In dense urban areas, have cars charged using a combination of solar and wind energy. Have the cars available for short rental like they do now with Zip Car (
http://www.zipcar.com/). They are very popular up her in Seattle.
C) Develop a mutant breed of chimps that live on battery acid, and piss scotch, and employ them to recycle the batteries.
SEE? You just gotta think outside the box a little.
