It seems that most, if not all electric car builders/manufacturers shun the notion of the ICE, even though an electric vehicle with a large enough pack for most daily use, and a small, appropriately sized gasoline generator for long trips, would exhibit all the efficiency, reliability, and instantaneous power of an EV, with all the range that liquid fuels provide. All while minimizing what seems to be the most costly component, batteries.
The electricity bill to run a vehicle exactly the same size as whatever we drive now would be ~a third of what our current gasoline bills is, and the gasoline cost would drop by ~40% because we would be eliminating the majority of inefficient gasoline engine operation... Unless of course we pulse and glide. But the whole point is that it would open up ~P&G mpg for everyone w/o all the hassle.
Even at homebuilt prices, I bet these would be competative with pure EVs and ICE powered vehicles... They would initially cost a little bit more than ICE vehicles due to lack of volume and battery cost, but as production ramped up, they eventually end up being cheaper than most ICE versions due to the high cost of the modern drivetrain/emissions system, while offering a ~40-75% reduction in fuel costs, better acceleration, fewer repair costs, and longer vehicle life.
While I can understand that most manufacturers can't instantaneously alter their production, they have contracts with suppliers and whatnot, if we don't start seeing 100mpg vettes and 200mpg corollas in the next few years, I'm gonna be mad. And write an email to someone. maybe not...
But anyway, with gas at $1 a gallon, the electrified drivetrain is more or less equivalent in cost, but now that we've been holding steady at $2-3 for the last few years, there's no reason for manufacturers not to start rolling out fuel efficient, high performance, long range, economic vehicles.
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