Hey mistymoney,
There are maintenance benefits to EVs for sure. However, the environmental benefits are more difficult to quantify. Mining the metals that go into these batteries produces horrible hellscapes that are deemed the worst places on Earth. USA is better at mining these materials as we have stringent pollution standards, however, it is very difficult to get new mines approved in the USA. CO2 emissions from buying a small ICE might be less than the typical BEV when the total CO2 cost of production is taken into account. New cars have much fewer maintenance intervals than older cars, often once a year or less. Look into Tesla wheels falling off brand new cars, they are horribly designed with low initial quality, check out the consumer reports puts Tesla second to last in reliability.
Sorry if I'm a bummer, curse of being an engineer.
Hopefully by the time I purchase, Tesla will be getting its materials from SpaceX with little impact to mother earth. :)
Hey Misty, few thoughts and corrections to add here.
There is a significant domestic supply of lithium salt in the US and around the world. Lithium is plentiful and can be surface mined with minimal environmental impact. Nickel and Cobalt are rare and mining these is impactful. However, Tesla is reducing the amount of cobalt in its batteries and is now using a cobalt free battery chemistry (LFP or lithium, iron, phosphate) in its Chinese made Model 3s.
Obviously, the biggest environmental threat to the world right now is climate change. On that front, EVs are far and away better for the planet. If we’re talking environmental hell scapes, check out the oil tar sands of Alberta. Anyway, the beauty of EVs is they are as green as the energy source used to produce the electrons. In my case, I’ve powered every EV mile I’ve driven with roof top solar. The lifetime greenhouse gas emissions of an EV using the dirtiest possible coal-fired electricity will still be better than a comparable ICE burning gasoline over its life time. As the percentage of renewable in the grid mix improves, so does the environmental advantage of the EV. An ICE car will never run on anything but 100% fossil fuels.
Another consideration, as the EV market matures, there will be a secondary market for the car batteries as electrical grid backup storage, and finally recycling of the spent batteries into new batteries. Most of the materials in the battery, including the rare earth materials are recyclable (80% of battery material is recyclable). Further reducing the environmental impact of EVs compared to ICE vehicles.
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/06/01/joint-venture-to-specialize-in-recycling-electric-vehicle-batteries.htmlLastly, please do not accept the opinions of Tesla’s performance or quality from detractors who have never driven or owned the vehicle. Tesla’s have the highest customer satisfaction of any brand. Speak with owners, they will say Tesla is not always perfect. Service appointments can be slow, but issues are few and ultimately get resolved. Nearly all are satisfied and would buy again.
Best of Luck!
PS - I apologize for my part in derailing the intended topic, but there is a lot of misinformation out there when it comes to Tesla and I have a hard time not providing a balanced picture. As for the thread topic, Tesla SP may be overvalued currently with some degree of future performance baked into the stock price. However, Tesla has also been significantly de-risked and will continue to grow exponentially. So, unless you plan on cashing out of your index funds soon (<1 yr) it’s very likely Tesla as part of the S&P 500 will be contributing to your account appreciation. Great way to get some exposure to a great American growth company and invest in a cleaner future for the planet.