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My thoughts:
1.) First, he's not talking about electric cars, but rather hybrid-electric vehicles.
2.) I'm not against hybrids, but after doing a bit of thinking on the subject, I would prefer my next vehicle (on which fuel economy will be an important factor) to be a diesel in part for some of the reasons he says here. There seems to be less need to compromise the vehicle's driving dynamics, while still giving very good fuel economy. (Hybrids are still far superior in the city, though.) We weren't exactly blown away after our Prius test drive last weekend -- wasn't impressed with braking or emergency handling at all, nor the oddball center console. We were very impressed with the Audi A3 TDI, though. Secure handling, good safety ratings, etc.
3.) He's wrong about the battery replacement price - I think that's around $3000 or $4000 for the Prius. It will no doubt be higher for a straight up EV. He's not wrong that there are environmental costs to creating the batteries, but I have not seen anything establishing that these costs are, throughout the vehicle's lifetime, more than the lifetime costs for a non-hybrid.
4.) He mentions that the Chevy crossover gets equivalent fuel economy to the Ford Escape Hybrid. I imagine he's only talking about highway mileage -- city will no doubt be a different story. But it's a fair point that fuel economy for non-hybrids is beginning to increase across-the-board.
5.) It's a little unfair to imply higher operating costs for a hybrid. This might be the case after the lengthy battery warranty expires, and the owner is on the hook for battery replacement, but it is not borne out by any facts right now. The battery warranties for the popular second-gen Prius are still running (I think they were 8 years, and the models were released in '03 or '04...)
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