@Rich: The four-door sedan version of the VW Golf is known as the Volkswagen Jetta.

And, I think you're going to find it very, very challenging to get elected officials signing onto an agenda of removing safety requirements. The headline would read: "Politician Wants To Make Cars More Dangerous."

Also, the insurance industry is driving much of the push for safer vehicles and added safety featuers, to reduce its costs for human injuries in accidents.

@Paul: Some of the comments here are certainly strong, and I'm sorry you feel insulted. I read all comments, and routinely drop notes to those who violate our Terms of Use (see link below every comment box).

I also don't believe that these are Tesla employees making these comments. I rather suspect they are, instead, dedicated fans of the car. Just as Fisker has its fans, so too does Tesla.

Frankly, the whole discussion is starting to remind me of debates between partisans of different pro sports teams.

@Mark: Are you sure about that? Wyoming shows no incentives at all on the Plug-In America map of state incentives:
http://www.pluginamerica.org/incentives

@George: I'm not aware that Cadillac has said anything at all about the ELR price. Have I missed something?

@Carol: Given that plug-in electric car buyers on average are far more affluent than Americans at large--and that the cars carry a hefty cost premium--do you really think $50 a year will "kill the electric car" ??

@Brian: Absolutely possible! The old Ford Crown Vics ran about 12 to 14 mpg in stop-and-go Manhattan traffic. Mileage of 36 to 50 mpg isn't unreasonable for a Toyota hybrid, especially if it was a Prius liftback.

What he may not have mentioned was that he probably has to bribe the dispatcher with a portion of that savings to assign him the hybrid versus the remaining Crown Vics ....

(2 of 2) "@hat we will get when we add another 1.5 million “ZEV's” to the power grid by 2025?"

Answer: Remarkably little effect on the grid & some potential issues with neighborhood transformers that need to be upgraded.

The EPRI-NRDC study notes that even if 2/3 of ALL vehicle miles driven today in the U.S. were powered on grid electricity, it would add only 8% to overall demand.

The impact of plus-in cars will be slow, predictable + FAR less disruptive to generation + grid capacity than was the arrival of cheap home air conditioners in the 1960s + 1970s. That stressed grids in hot areas FAR more than EVs will.

Read the EPRI-NRDC report, or at least its executive summary. Seriously.

@Tyrone: So many points. I'm going to address 2 obvious ones; perhaps other commenters will hit the rest.

(1) "With a so-called ZEV...the key may be off but the power source is...spewing out pollutants 24/7 while power packs are being recharged, unlike diesel semi-trucks which can be turned off"

Yes, but both the UCS study you cite AND the EPRI-NRDC study calculate that carbon emitted to generate power to drive 1 BEV mile is lower in ALL states than the carbon from extracting, refining, transporting, and combusting gasoline in a 25-mpg car. In ALL states.

The UCS study you cite uses latest (2010) data to compare a BEV to 50-mpg Prius: better in some states, worse in others.

(1 of 2)

@Tyrone: Indeed. You may find our most recent article to be of interest:
http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1084197_tesla-to-issue-more-stock-pay-off-energy-dept-with-proceeds

@Tyrone: Are you familiar with the 2007 EPRI-NRDC two-volume study or the 2012 UCS study, both of which carefully analyzed the wells-to-wheels carbon impact of driving 1 mile on grid power versus burning gasoline in cars of differing fuel efficiencies?

Those studies clearly disprove your statement that a ZEV is "responsible for emitting more pollution than anything else on the road, including diesel semi-trucks."

I'd be curious to see the analyses you used to support your claim. Please provide links. Thanks.