From Wikipedia (a source I do not normally cite, and do not personally trust):
Of particular concern to the company was the likelihood that each leased car's battery packs would require replacement at 25-35,000 mile intervals...
GM believes that... the EV1 was doomed when the expected breakthrough in battery technology did not take place. In fact, the NiMH battery packs (or Ovonic Battery) that were expected to dramatically improve range came with their own set of problems; GM had to use a less-efficient charging algorithm (lengthening charge times) and waste power on air conditioning to prevent the battery packs from overheating...
The Gen 1 cars got 55 to 75 miles (90 to 120 km) per charge with the Delco-manufactured lead-acid batteries, 75 to 100 miles (120-to-160 km) with the Gen 2 Panasonic lead-acid batteries, and 75 to 150 miles (120 to 240 km) per charge with Gen 2 Ovonic nickel-metal hydride batteries. Recharging took as much as eight hours for a full charge (although one could get an 80% charge in two to three hours). The battery pack consisted of 26 of 12 V, 60 Ah lead-acid batteries holding 67.4 MJ (18.7 kWh) of energy or 26 13.2-volt, 77 Ah nickel-metal hydride batteries which held 95.1 MJ (26.4 kWh) of energy.
[Just throwing some numbers around, but Sears lists automotive batteries at costs from $60 to $190. An electric car would probably require a quality battery, but let's assume that volume production (every EV1 would require new batteries every 30K miles) would reduce costs, so let's split the difference - that's $125 per replacement battery. 26 x $125 = $3,250 (plus labor & tax). And that's every 25K-35K miles (not to mention the fact that the nickel-metal hydride batteries would without a doubt be even more expensive - and GM swapped over to the NiMH batteries for a reason). Know anyone who wants a required $3,700 (or much higher) automotive maintenance bill every two years, or their car becomes a lawn ornament? Heck, a lot of folks would have to take out a loan just for the maintenance...]
Ardent supporters of electric vehicles have been very vocal about the EV1 program's demise. Of particular interest is the leasing program which formally required the vehicles to be returned to GM at lease expiry. General Motors stated reason for the lease-only option was that, as the modern era's first ground-up electric vehicle, the EV1 could not be expected to maintain its performance level (or affordability in regard to maintenance) over the long run... While many lessees and prospective owners have complained about the lease-only availability of the EV1, it is important to note that each leased vehicle was in effect heavily subsidized by General Motors. The car was very popular with its lessees, but it was not known if anyone would have purchased a new electric vehicle at the time had it been offered for sale even at a "break even" price of US$35,000-40,000 [in then current dollars].
FWIW: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EV1
that’s $125 per replacement battery
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Lead is currently $0.81/lb. ,, your typical car battery weighs about 50 lbs. so $40.00 just for the materials (am just ballparking the total weight of the battery and assuming that the plastic and acid cost less per pound than the lead) .. figure $60 for a quality battery in pallet quantity at near wholesale pricing,, battery group would not affect price appreciably ,, your 25,000 mile expense would be about $1700 or $0.0675/mile ..
What we need is easing of regulations/laws that would allow immediate re-importation of the GEO Metro/Suzuki Swift twins ,, the Mazda 121/Ford Festiva/KIA Pride triplets and so many of the quality Japanese micro cars ... simply easing emission regs to the (still very stringent) mid 1990’s levels would allow re-flashing of the engine mapping and get us an easy 15-20% higher fuel economy ..
And while we’re at it kill the boutique fuel blends ,, all we need is winter and summer...