Electric cars are not exactly plug in and go. You're supposed to rotate the tires every 3,000 miles (5,000 km) and clean out the air vents that help keep the battery pack cool – though Hershkovitz admits to being a little slack on both counts. He also says the tires cost a bit more, and his RAV4 is on its second set."You have to refill the windshield washer, too. But that's pretty well about it." Probe further and he admits he'll also eventually need a new battery pack. He says he hasn't heard of anyone who has had to replace the batteries yet, but he figures it will cost about $10,000 (all figures U.S.). Even at that, Hershkovitz sees electric cars as a better deal. He calculates that his energy costs are about 20 per cent of what he'd be spending on gas. "I've never been one for conspiracy theories, but when you realize how good these are and how long the technology has been around, all the air pollution worries, and the experience I had with GM, you have to wonder," Hershkovitz says. A lot of other people have been wondering, too, especially since the release last June of Who Killed the Electric Car?, one of those rare documentaries that had some box office success.
) and "oil imports will decline, regardless of what we do" (yes, and the rich will give half their wealth to educate underpriviledged children and pay for health care of returning war veterans, and the Easter Bunny will come next year, just as it has every year prior).
