Well, as an electric car owner and supporter, I have a few opinions about detailing them and owning them.
First, these things operate in the rain. They drive through puddles. Sprinklers hit them. People spill water in the cabins. It`s not like you`re sitting on a live 10,000 volt line with sparks flying from frayed contacts! You can foam up these cars, do 2 bucket washes, etc. I`d advise being careful around the charge ports (these cars can be plugged in when it`s raining) and making sure these areas are not flooded. Have a general sense where the high voltage lines are located so that if you`re steam cleaning around indoor panels that you don`t get those areas well. For the Model S, there`s basically nothing you can do to electrocute yourself or damage any of the voltage systems...unless, you plan on jacking up the car for a wheels-off detail. The battery cage is very close to the jack points and you can damage the battery cage if your jack or jackstands are off the mark. (I jack my car up a couple times per year to swap out the wheels or really clean/paint the wells.) Just be careful. For PHEVs, you just have to know what to protect in the engine compartment. Beyond that, I`d say that most general detailing principles apply. For the Teslas, watch out for those screens!
As for the environmental aspect of things, BEV have the potential of running much cleaner than ICE vehicles. A solely electric vehicle can be charged by wind, water or solar energy. Nuclear as well, if that is a significant source of your region`s electricity. Coal, yes. It`s a fossil fuel. It is dirty, but using coal mitigates the foot print required to ship and transport petroleum from around the country or around the globe. Even when you`re drawing off energy from 100% coal, there are quite a few sources out there to suggest that it draws less of a footprint than what ICE vehicles draw. If I purchase battery packs from Tesla, I can use the sun to charge them during the day and power my house (and car) through the night. You could be totally off the grid. At this point in time, you need wealth to achieve this. But, you needed wealth to own cell phones, computers, HD televisions, etc. back in the days. They will get cheaper.
On top of that, my car needs no oil changes. No transmission fluid. No gas treatments. No lubes. There`s a reason why the floors at Tesla stores and service centers are white. The only dirt comes from the tires.
Economical? No. A Tesla isn`t an economical car. If you had planned to buy an Acura TL but bought a Model S instead, you`re not saving money in gas. There`s no way. On the other hand, if you were going to buy an Audi A8 or S7, then yes, a Tesla is an economical car. Tax credit? It will go away once Tesla sells 200,000 cars. Yes, it`s a credit. Anyone who pays more than $7500 in taxes per year is eligible to start getting the credit. If you can afford an electric car, most likely you`ll get all the credit.
Beyond that, Teslas out accelerate just about everything out there. Pretty good for a sedan.
I can also sneak up on you and run over you because I`m so quiet.
Don`t get me wrong. I`m a car guy too. I don`t have a moral objection to ICE vehicles. Personally, not having to stand in line to pump gas, having instant heat and cool air conditioning, having a "full tank" every morning, being able to "run" my car during a detail without killing the battery or dying of carbon monoxide poisoning AND the acceleration (Teslas aren`t particularly fast - 125-150 mph max) is enough to make me not want to
buy an ICE again.
