Study finds electrifying SUVs could actually increase emissions by using up scarce battery material that could otherwise be used to electrify smaller cars and e-bikes
ScienceDirect
Regardless how you power it, private automobiles will always be ineffecient and have a massive resource cost. The EV isn't here to save the planet, it's here to save the car industry. This is part of why we need the conversation to shift to energy efficiency instead of just emissions.
Also never forget the tires. We're breathing them.
And there are a lot of cases where we could just stop commuting....
Tires are a big issue right now. 6PPD-Q might be an extinction event for salmon.
The EVs' carbon footprint is marginally smaller, and even that tiny difference is highly dependant on drivers taking care of their cars and using them for many years. The only realistic advantage is that the pollution moves from cities to power plants. It's a pretty nice improvement, but it does nothing to 'save the planet'.
Another advantage is the entire gasoline distribution industry can go away. Tens (hundreds?) of thousands of gas stations in the US alone, with their tanks leaking hazardous chemicals into our groundwater. Trucks and storage facilities in every town. Pipelines and tankers. Middlemen at many layers. Gone.
This is also one of the key strikes against hydrogen. Do you really want to build out an entirely new distribution infrastructure just to keep all those polluters in business?
Some smaller gasoline cars actually beat out the total impact (production, use, disposal) of oversized electric trucks or SUVs
We can do both, but emissions should remain the priority. We can continue to scale energy generation while reducing emissions. We aren't anywhere near extracting all the energy the sun provides, and solar, tidal, and wind power are all very low emissions even including manufacturing and decommissioning costs
That said, we do need public transit solutions that make raising 3 children in a loving household to be a life well-lived. Many SUVs are used because the house manager has to wrangle all the children while also picking up weekly supplies from one or more locations.
My limited experience with public transit is that it is a lot harder to do bulk purchases, keep groups together, or both.
My limited experience with public transit is that it is a lot harder to do bulk purchases, keep groups together, or both.
This is the real challenge. My approach has been biking to what I can and going single small and efficient car when it's viable. It's better than what a lot of people manage with kids, and marketing has convinced a lot of parents that they need a gigantic 3-row SUV that struggles to achieve 20mpg
Or how about this for a title: getting people to use smaller vehicles in general is the better environmental choice.
Trains > busses and trams > Smaller EVs > Electric Boats > efficient gas vehicles > large EVs > innefficient gas and diesel vehicles incl boats> Airplanes
The issue with electrifying rail networks is that it’s very expensive and modern diesel-electric locomotives are already over a hundred times more efficient than trucks. So while it does reduce emissions to replace a diesel locomotive with a fully electric train you’re far better off getting hundreds of trucks off the road and adding one new diesel-electric locomotive!
I would say that's an efficient diesel vehicle which just sort of slots in with its vehicle type in the list above, but good points.
The main issue with Diesel trains is that they tend to be in service for 50+ years. So while they might be decent today, that won't hold true for very long. Sure, better than diesel trucks, but if there's a EV truck revolution in 10 years, the Diesel train still has 40 more years to go.
Electric trains on the other hand have been very close to the theoretical limit of efficiency for decades now, and their total system efficiency keeps getting better the more renewable energy sources go online and coal and gas powerplants go offline.
An electric train keeps getting better and better, while a Diesel train does not.
In Europe, short haul and long haul flights are more efficient than diesel vehicles actually. Short domestic flights are worse though.
Wow. That's interesting.
The electric Humvee has entered the chat. It has over 200kWh worth of batteries, enough to make 3 more normal-sized EVs. And lord help you if one of those hits you.
This is true. I love my eBike. I highly suggest anyone buying a Specialized Turbo Levo.
Prefacing with, I want an e-bike.
As someone who commuted for a decade on a non e-bike. I'm legitimately wondering how we integrate them into existing infrastructure in the US. 50cc is the limit for gas engines before you need a motorcycle license, which at the high end is ~5HP. I'm seeing e-bikes with way more than 5HP being used on sidewalks. I don't have an answer to the problem but it scares me to have such easy access to basically motorcycles that are classified as bicycles. I spent 2 decades sweating and learning to ride fast, now an inexperienced idiot can do 20+ mph when they have no business going that fast.
I do a hill ride that takes me a mile or two up a mountain and I easily catch 40mph when bombing down the mountain. But on regular bike paths, I can’t make the motor go faster than 19mph. Unless I am on a hill. It’s 100% peddle assist and has no throttle. As why it’s a level 1. I wanna throttled eBike next. Or I might just buy a motorcycle. Electric or gas.
the slate truck is a great concept. simple, low cost, pickup. like a ranger from the early 2000's.
sucks that its a bezos project. wish they made cheap conversion kits instead of having to spend 10's of thousands to upgrade an older vehicle to electric.
maybe some day. either way. i have a bike and a sedan that i barely use enough to justify insurance.
bring back kei trucks