At this point I have to wonder what the motivation of articles like these are and how much money is behind them.
In theory, this is true. In practice, Teslas are very expensive to repair, don't have a very good reliability track record, and there isn't the secondary market yet for independent mechanics and part suppliers to be able to challenge factory repair costs. This is why Tesla sets aside roughly the same amount for warranty reserves as their competitors, meaning they expect to spend the same amount per year doing repairs on their cars as do the ICE makers.
Really the auto industry itself is making the cars unappealing by locking things down with DRM and trying to change the ownership model of cars, even being able to block you from starting the car remotely. So we have propriety charging stations that are owned by the automaker, a repair ecosystem controlled by the automaker, and powerful software in complete control of every aspect of the car communicating constantly with the automaker. In that type of environment, expect to get milked constantly regardless of the theoretical advantages EVs have in terms of cost. A truly open platform electric car -- one that is highly modifiable and customizable and mechanically much less complex -- that's a DIY/hobbyists' dream, and it should have much lower maintenance costs.
But automakers are standing in the way.
He absolutely hates the idea of a "connected car" and if affordable electric cars are glorified cell phones he is going to stick with old gas cars.