Ironically, the biggest problem with battery powered series hybrids, is the problem I’ve never seen addressed before - Secondary market value.
Take the Volt for example, the battery pack in that thing is estimated to cost between 6 and 7 thousand dollars.
If you buy a Volt, you had better plan on paying it off.. Because who in their right mind is going to buy a used car with a seven thousand dollar bomb under the hood?
And that’s just the battery.. Now you have to have it installed.
Will these costs come down? Possibly. But with different manufacturers all using proprietary battery types, and shapes, etc, I don’t know that the issue can simply be dismissed out of hand as a development cost that can be expected to drop significantly by the time the second and third generation vehicles come around.
Fire is a concern also. The amount of current required to move an entire vehicle, even a small one, is substantial. There’s allot more power there than most people probably suspect. If you ground it, even for a second, it becomes a seven thousand dollar arc welder.