They're probably low for the EcoCar competition, and there are a lot of benefits for the participants even if they don't meaningfully contribute to improvements in energy efficiency for cars, and to the extent it's not government money being used, it's really not anybody else's job to think about the costs.
But on bigger "feel good" issues, not thinking about the costs is how you end up with ethanol mandates, wind farm subsidies, renewable energy portfolios, DOE loan guarantees for solar panel <span style="text-decoration: underline;">production</span>, and a bunch of other **** that just destroys wealth when that money could be spent on mosquito nets, water purification systems, sewer systems, DDT, or other **** we know how to do that would provide a big net gain in human welfare.