Good News

Ordinary lead acid batteries going back to the '60s have been sufficient to cover over 80% of American commutes. The reason there have been no commuter specials is because you'd only need to buy 1, barring wrecks. Car companies and oil companies have astroturfed against such vehicles because they would interrupt multiple revenue streams. Instead we've had little weird, glorified golf carts that barely attain city speeds -- and none made by the "Big Three".

There are reports of EV conversions being passed down from one generation to the next. I remember reading about one such in Britain where the grandson had to cut down some trees literally growing through the car to get his grandfather's EV conversion out of the woods. Replaced the batteries, greased some bearings and it was ready to resume work.