They have heard that it is a big cost. Which it is. Around $5k on the low end and well over $10,000 on the high; the cost varies from EV to EV, with Tesla battery packs being among the most expensive to replace and a Nissan Leaf's being among the least expensive (in relative terms).

How many have heard about battery replacement costs in partially electric vehicles?

These are more commonly called hybrids – the hybridization being the combination of a gas-burning engine that both provides propulsive power (i.e., it moves the vehicle) and serves as a generator that makes electricity, used to power electric motors that also move the vehicle (some more, some less). There is also an EV-like battery pack (usually but not always lithium ion) that stores the electricity generated by the gas-burning engine, to power the motors and run the vehicle's accessories when the gas engine isn't running.

The idea being to cycle the gas-burning off for as long as possible, so as to reduce to the extent possible the burning of gas – and not just to save it. The original batch of hybrids consisted of models such as the eponymous Prius and its imitators, like the Honda Insight two-seater of the early 2000s. These were designed to be hybrids exclusively; i.e., they were not hybridized iterations of non-hybrid models.

Then came the compliance hybrids. These are variants of almost every model of everything on sale today. The hybrid part isn't so much there to save gas but to reduce gaseous "emissions" of carbon dioxide, not because buyers care about that but because the vehicle manufacturers are forced to care about that.

And now, so must we.

Or at least, so must the people who buy a hybrid – which it's getting hard not to because some iteration of hybridness is fast becoming standard in many vehicles. Pretty much every new Audi, BMW and Lexus, for instance, comes standard with a "mild" hybrid drivetrain at the least. The "eTorque" system Ram installs on the 3.6 V6 and the soon-to-be-available-again V8 in the 1500 pickup is a "mild" hybrid setup.

You pay extra for this up front, of course – because the motors and battery pack don't cost nothing. But how much do you pay down the road – when the time comes to replace the hybrid battery pack? That time will come, too. Not right away – and not as soon as it would if you bought a 100 percent EV, because the latter's battery never gets a rest and is also (typically) discharged down to near-"empty," regularly because that's necessary to drive the thing any distance The heavy discharging (followed by "fast" charging) takes a toll on the battery, which gradually loses it capacity to accept/retain charge – at which point you need a new battery.