“I recall a statement that it takes 16 -18 times the power in order to load electrical power into a battery”
No, it’s nowhere near that bad. There are losses in the generating, transmission, and charging stages, but as the article states, even with those the electric cars are still about on par, or slightly better than gasoline powered cars. Most modern gasoline powered cars manage only about 25% thermal efficiency (diesels are quite a bit better). Thermal generating stations (coal, oil, natural gas) can manage close to 50% thermal efficiency in generating electricity, although most of that advantage is subsequently lost in (as mentioned) transmission and charging losses. Plus electricity can be generated from relatively non-polluting and/or renewable resources, such as wind, solar, nuclear, etc (although the latter 2 of those typically have some major issues as grid electricity sources).
The major problem with electric cars, as I see it, is that they just aren’t as practical or flexible as internal-combustion powered cars. Heavy, limited storage space (as the battery packs take up quite a bit a room) and limited range (that’s the big one, and not close to being economically solved, yet). Plus there’s little environmental benefit in them, and they cost more - so what’s the point?
I think another big disadvantage of electrics, beyond mere range, is the time it takes to recharge a battery vs the time needed to fill a gas tank. I think people would be willing to stop every 50 miles or so to recharge the battery if such recharging took about the same time as a current fill up does. However, if I am not mistaken, doesn’t it take several hours to recharge a battery in an electric car? If so, I think that’s likely a deal breaker. Certainly, some might use electrics for their daily commutes if the economics worked out, but for a long-distance trip, that’s certainly impractical.