Electric vehicles (EVs) are critical to reducing emissions and fossil fuel dependency. However, widespread adoption remains constrained by high upfront costs, limited charging infrastructure, and persistent range anxiety. These barriers vary in intensity; underdeveloped countries remain largely uninvolved, developing nations struggle to establish EV ecosystems, and developed countries continue to refine supportive policies. Although dynamic charging and battery swapping offer potential, they often entail significant infrastructure demands. A key research question - how cost-effective current EV technologies are - remains inadequately addressed. This review fills that gap by providing an integrated assessment of cost-curtailment strategies across the EV life cycle. The novelty of this work lies in its multidisciplinary approach, combining emerging advancements in battery technology, innovative charging systems, and vehicle-to-grid (V2G) solutions with frameworks for safety, policy, and economic analysis. Beyond technical innovations, this review emphasizes critical yet underexplored issues such as energy storage safety, charging network cybersecurity, grid stability, and the integration of renewable energy. It also evaluates the evolving role of government incentives, standardization, and innovative financing in supporting a sustainable and cost-effective EV transition. Market trends are contextualized, highlighting the decline in battery costs to US$105/kWh by 2024, with projections of $75/kWh by 2030 and a growth in global charging stations to 12.5 million. This work outlines specific research gaps across multiple domains. It offers strategic guidance for future research and policy, bridging engineering, economic, and environmental perspectives to support scalable and resilient EV adoption.