This is like joining a country club and *enjoying* paying assessment fees because they help the club :)

The whole point of buying an EV is to cut resource usage - that includes paying regular ICE-based service fees. A well desgined EV should basically be service-free except for tire rotations and occasional coolant fluid changing and alignment adjustments. I think you're looking at it from a 'peace of mind' point of view but the thing you may not be seeing is the level of what a more average person has in their budget for expenses. I can afford this, you can afford this - but should we? I bought a Volt to save money and expect to not go to a service center except for annual state inspections and perhaps tire rotations and a brief overview of any adjustments under warranty. For the next six years. No way would I have bought with 50/mo.

If Chevy had a $50/month service contract for Volts, they wouldn't be selling any of them.

More "pay to play" fees will keep Tesla from success.

Any battery in the lab (WSU or otherwise) today will take 3-5 years to get into anytype of product. What if it fails certain tests (EUCAR, NHTSA, etc) and then what, go back to the drawing board again? Current day (not even next-gen) batteries are driving around in EVs. Today. This does not say work is done - but happy birthday! We're here. EVs are viable and on the road.

Shut off your home electricity until Fusion is in production and Tesla beamed electricity is the distribution medium. Just around the corner.

Well, the plug-in Prius doesn't really "excite". The EPA window sticker shows 6-miles AER, 11 miles mixed-mode and then the remainder on gasoline. If buyers really think this is at-all better than a regular old Prius, then they are missing out. If they want more AER, there is the Volt and Leaf. The Plug-in Prius doesn't even offer the EV-range you can do yourself with an Enginer plug-in add-on pack (4kWh being common) that is available for older Prius models.