With upgraded RAM and (of course) graphics, and SSDs. Works for me...

In the early '90s GM produced high-performance versions of the GMC Sonoma and Jimmy called the Scyclone and Typhoon. Could we hope for similar, limited-production variants of EVs (of whatever body style)?

I'd say the risk of setting one's crotch on fire counts as an "influence", wouldn't you? Or you might even run over your own head!

"Nobody killed people by driving and smoking, for example."

Sorry, but that's not true.

...seem like they might enhance fuel injection for IC engines as well. Hope somebody is looking into that...

Your reasoning to reach this conclusion?

"...or she'll miss all the excitement." (Babylon 5, "Into the Fire")

There is a very active LEAF owners' group at mynissanleaf.com and folks have developed a battery-aging model based on formal tests and lots of user data. No one has reported anything like what you posit. How about some proof of that data?

Fine. Try this instead: at just over 4 miles/kwh, my retail cost for electricity would've run three cents per mile, or about $70 so far. That better? :-)

I'd suggest looking elsewhere than the right-leaning Wall Street Journal for an objective analysis of costs and benefits. And I've owned entry-level cars over the years ('76 Rabbit, '79 Mazda GLC) but to compare their level of features to a LEAF is simply bogus.

A little more information... the LEAF is my daily driver, but when I leased it I kept my paid-for Corolla for longer trips only. My annual driving comes to something over 15000 miles, and the annual mileage cap on the LEAF is 12000. I expect to put about 5000 miles/year on the Corolla including vacation driving. At that rate it'll last a good long while. Other EV owners have been known to rent cars for their occasional longer trips, and some lease deals even include rental credits.

Now I'll be sure to remember how impractical my LEAF is as I drive to a morning meeting, then the mall for some mallwalking, then the free charging station near the gym for half a "tank" while I work out, then... Silly me, driving 2300+ around-town miles over the past three months for a total fuel cost of $9 (because one of my city's free charging stations is inside a parking deck) without ONCE realizing how impractical it was! :-)

...maintain an AI system of "waiting on better materials" projects while keeping abreast of materials research? Seems like they'd then know which startups to fund/acquire.

So you'd strip toddlers from the gene pool? Yeah, that's the ticket...

There is much, much more to the process of professional evaluation and diagnosis than what you describe. The process is a whole lot more rigorous than idle speculation.