This is where I actually see it as a disadvantage. IMO the only way to get your money out of a vehicle (any vehicle) is to put a lot of miles on it bringing your actual cost per mile down. An EV that costs $60K and only gets driven 2K miles a year is a very bad investment. Then on the flip side, if you do drive a lot, an EV is also a bad investment if it can not get the range and have the charging speed of filling up with gas. That is why it should be left to the market to decide who wants/needs one.
RE: Driving close to home.
IMNSHO, you'd kinda be wrong. EV's are the ultimate commuter vehicle. Not nearly so great on long trips. I have a 20mi one way daily commute, 4 days a week, roughly 160mi/week. I only charge once a week, before at night, now with Solar I'm struggling because I need to charge between 1000-1600, but I'm figuring it out. If you are not trying to solar charge, and using TOU, it's a no brainer for any vehicle that's in use as a daily trip out and back, because you simply plug it in upon return, unplug and leave with a full-tank every morning. Mail trucks, local delivery vans, most route vehicles, that drive less than 300 miles a day. The average urban mail truck drives < 50 miles/day.
EV's have their issues, but not really the high profile ones, like burning batteries. This never happens to an ICE vehicle, except when it does. The traffic guys calling out a car-b-que, but it will not make the front page. I can guarantee you your EV will not overheat and blow a radiator hose climbing up a steep grade in the 115F heat here in AZ heading up to the mountains with the A/C running full blast. You will never need an oil change. Unless you drive the wheels off you probably won't ever replace the brakes. Since all the components are independent and electric you will never be stranded by a broken serpentine belt, seized water pump, seized A/C clutch, broken alternator, broken fuel line, bad fuel pump, ... back in the day, a broken clutch cable, snapped u joint.
All that being said. Todays ICE vehicles are stunningly reliable for the most part if you give them a modicum of maintenance. They are mostly quiet, they really don't pollute very much even less with a hybrid. And the $15K cost difference will buy an awful lot of fuel. I don't think anyone should be mandating EV cars. Where they make good sense, and as the production costs go down and technology improves they will gradually take over a big chunk of those markets as fleets rotate because they are better. No government should be subsidizing or forcing any of it. This will give the Electric infrastructure a chance to grow to meet the demand without being disruptive.
