Why electric vehicles aren't the answer

[p.dath]

IMHO Electric cars are a FAIL for several reasons.

(1) They ARE NOT clean. The process of mining, and extracting the (rare) metals required for the engine and battery is all done with oil.

Sounds reasonable. It's also possible a shift more towards hi energy capacitors may reduce the need to high density batteries.

(2) They are NOT sustainable. There is simply not enough lithium in the world to repower vehicles electrically. Best estimates are there is enough lithium to make 300 million vehicle batteries, which is enough for about 1/3 of vehicles currently used.

Agreed, Lithium based batteries is not the way of the future.

(3) They are NOT emission free.
Its just that we have relocated the emissions to the power station. Every-time I see someone make that claim I want to throttle them. MOST of the worlds electricity is generated from fossil fuels. And the electricity grid is VERY VERY lossy. So the transmission of the energy from the power station to you car is very very inefficient.

Power Stations are not that bad, especially the ones we have in NZ. Also NZ is heading towards more and more renewable energy, such as Wind, Hydro and Thermal.
The rest of the world is going to have to follow NZ's lead on this, and also shift to power production methods that involve less emissions.

[avgas]

I'm betting a hell of a lot sooner!! More like 4 years to $5/litre if global population and economic growth continues without too much of a hitch.

To be honest that all depends on what happens in USA, China and India.
If USA collapses, the price will stay still for a long time.
If China slows production, the price will stay still until they move again.
If Tata go full blown production, and everyone in India buys a car, petrol will go cheaper. If no one in India or China can buy a car, but everyone in the US can - price will go up. So pretty messy.

OPEC aren't stupid enough to shoot themselves in the face. They know the only way they can make money is in the long run. If we hit another GFC - they will need to keep the price low just so people can afford it.
Otherwise people will simply just walk. $3 in a GFC is like $5 when things are looking good.