I live near the beach and have an electric tuk-tuk (think 3-wheel golf cart) for going around the town where I live:
You will note that in the first picture that I also have a regular car. The tuk-tuk makes sense when going on the beach, going to the market, etc. But not for traveling outside of the town...for that instance, a car is the only way to go.
I also wouldn't have anything against electric cars. I won't own one right now because the infrastructure is somewhat limited at this point in time (maybe in a few years, that will change...but not now).
In metropolitan areas in southern areas in the States, I think electric cars make a lot of sense for commuter vehicles. Why?The more southern areas of the States have a low enough latitude where solar panels can work effectively to cover most of the "refueling" requirement. What would make a lot of sense is if these cars had replaceable "cartridges" for battery power where an owner could charge a spare "cartridge" during the day while still being able to use the car.
But with that, my specific use case (and I'd say the use-case for commuters) is not for "green" reasons. I understand that resources are expended, hazardous environmental situations are created mining and refining minerals needed and, unless I'm charging using solar, pollution is being transferred to the power plant rather than going out of my exhaust pipe. I do what I do for convenience reasons and for economic reasons alone. Anybody who claims to do otherwise is either a ridiculous virtue signaller, a complete fool, or both.
Here's the big thing: there is ZERO government mandate, there is not even a government incentive in Thailand to use electric vehicles or mandating "renewable" energy, etc. People are doing it because it has economic benefit. Face it, paying $10 a month for electric (if you have a hybrid system that is still connected to the grid) versus paying $100 a month means that the solar system you have on the house will pay for itself in 3-4 years.
When I still lived in the States (in the People's Democratic Republic of Maryland -- THE FREAK STATE™), they had a goal of 23% of all electric coming from renewable sources. So solar companies popped up all over the place. They had this deal where you could allow them to put solar panels on your house and they'd only charge you a tiny amount for the electricity (IIRC, 3¢ per kWh vice your normal rate). The hidden pieces of the deal was that you were signing a 20 year lease that wouldn't be automatically excused if you sold the house...and, more importantly, you were not allowed to disconnect the house from the electric grid if there was an outage on the power grid (eg, from an ice storm, hurricane, etc). Also, if you needed to replace the shingles on the roof, you'd have to pay the same company to remove the solar panels and replace them when the work was complete. A scam. You can expect similar across the country when Pedo Joe fully puts in his green agenda.
