Off topic, but BMW demonstrated a home power storage system using removed i3 battery packs years ago. Given what the selling price of one from say Tesla is, and the selling price of a 2014 i3, personally, if the rest of the 'kit' required to use the battery pack was reasonable, I'd be willing to pull that pack and I'd still have some salvage value for the rest of the vehicle. It would have enough stored energy to run my place for at least a couple of days. Not that we lose power all that often, but hey, for a small investment, it would be nice to have things just continue on if the power was out!
The investment in the i3 and i8 is not totally lost. They pioneered CFRP production that nobody has duplicated yet. After initial layup of the CF, a fully cured part is done in minutes versus at least a day by any other technique I've read about. That's huge. They've incorporated some of that material into various other lines to help lighten and strengthen things. It also gave them a huge rolling development experience to aid in seeing how people used their vehicles, and what worked, and what didn't that has been incorporated into the development of the PHEVs and the new EVs that will hit the market soon, if not already there (we don't get the X3 EV in the states, yet, but it's been sold for a bit now). There's a reason why the vehicle has a cellular connection...to gather information, hopefully, anonymously.
It's somewhat of a chicken and egg situation. Tesla set the mark as they built out their SuperCharger network along with their vehicles to make long-distance travel reasonable. The VW debacle in the USA has helped improve the CCS situation in the US, but the last four years of the Trump administration did not put any emphasis on aiding EV adoption. Yes, many people can charge at home, and yes, the CCS network is getting better, but it still has a long way to go both in content and education of people about what it is, and how it works. Many people cannot afford more than one vehicle, so while they may not take long road trips all that often, they want a vehicle that can do that. Some people that live in places in the city without off-street parking, or apartments, etc., may not be able to charge at home, and not every employer offers it there, and if they do, there are likely not as many stations as the demand would suggest.
It seems that many of the vehicles having been designed over the last 4-5 years were built with the possibility of offering them as an EV, ICE, or PHEV. As demand changes, the mix out the end of the production line can change. As things stand, battery production is a supply issue. Newer tech on that front is constantly arriving, and the energy density is improving, but mining and processing lithium is not particularly good for the environment.
