Yves here, two more environmental posts today to make up for a bit of neglect in this area recently. This post clarifies an issue I hadn’t articulated myself. I think it also contributes to my frustration with electric cars as a hope for climate change. We need to drastically reduce our energy and material use if we are to have any hope of escaping the worst outcomes that almost every Green New Deal plan envisions. The core of the Green New Deal is: let’s use technological solutions, better shopping, and some moderation to keep the way we do business today.
Apart from the near-necessity of cars for dispersed single-family homes, another climate-taxing addiction, the auto industry is a huge source of economic activity, both directly and through procurement and sales networks (and in the US, financing!). For proof, look at how the US is fighting tooth and nail to block the entry of cheap Chinese EVs, which will eat into US EV and conventional car sales to a large extent. It’s too late now, but if we had more time, imagine how much the economy could change with a serious and well-funded effort to improve public transportation (even if stronger measures would not be enough). It’s scary!
Bill Haskell’s opening remarks Angry BearOriginally written by Emily Atkin heating
Compare EVs to gasoline cars. Are EVs as bad as gasoline cars, or worse? Some EV advocates push in the opposite direction to EV promotion, or what this article calls greenwashing EVS.
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Financially motivated EV misinformation comes from both camps (lanes?) – industries that see EVs as a threat are trying to mislead consumers by exaggerating the harms of EVs. I hate EVsAnd the industries that benefit from EVs are: advantage To make people love EVs.
Most of the time, misinformation about EVs can be spotted by its attempt to promote black-and-white thinking: either “electric cars are bad and gasoline cars are good” or “electric cars are good and gasoline cars are bad.”
But the truth is, when it comes to the environment, there is no such thing as a “good” car. The real question is, how bad are these cars relative to each other? This is where most of the misinformation about EVs comes from.
Myth: Building EVs is more harmful to the environment than building gasoline-powered cars.
This statement is technically true: “An electric vehicle requires six times as many mineral inputs by weight as a conventional car, not including steel and aluminum, to run,” reports The Washington Post. report 2023.
That’s because each EV contains a 900-pound battery block that contains about 353 pounds of critical materials and metals, such as cobalt, nickel, lithium, manganese, aluminum and copper, that gasoline cars don’t have, so producing a gasoline car produces fewer emissions than producing an electric car.
What makes this statement misleading is not the statement itself, but the context in which gasoline car advocates say it. Usually, they say that electric cars are Much worse Better for the environment than gasoline cars. This is frankly illogical, because most of the pollution that comes from cars is make Car. It is driving car.
If you are just buying a car to look at and have no intention of driving it, buying a gasoline-powered car would definitely be better for the environment.
But if you’re actually going to do that drive If the car you buy is electric, even if your local electricity supply uses coal, an electric car will be the less environmentally harmful option.
I don’t think so either. According to peer-reviewed researchers, study It is funded by Ford Motor Company, which derives most of its profits from automobiles. Gasoline vehicles.
In this study conducted by the University of Michigan, EVs have lower emissions than gasoline cars “Based on the average number of miles driven on vehicles in the U.S., the average life expectancy is 1.4 to 1.5 years for sedans, 1.6 to 1.9 years for SUVs, and about 1.6 years for pickup trucks.”
another studyA study conducted by Ricardo for the nonprofit Fuel Institute also found that driving a gasoline-powered car is far worse for the planet than an EV, even when coal is part of the electricity mix.
Over 200,000 miles, a gasoline vehicle emits 66 tonnes of greenhouse gases, compared to the current The average electricity mix in the U.S. emits 39 tonnes, and in states that already have low-carbon electricity, EVs emit less than gasoline cars for up to 19,000 miles.
Experts expect that over time, EVs will need fewer and fewer driving hours to be cleaner than gasoline-powered cars, not just because the electric mix is expected to be cleaner, but also because the majority of the battery materials used to make the cars are likely to be clean as well. recycling.
Recycling and reusing the minerals used to make EV batteries “can drastically reduce the amount of waste material compared to fossil fuels, which disappear invisibly and heat up the planet,” he said. Guardian I got it. The article was published in December. “After recycling, the battery materials discarded during the life of an electric vehicle are: Soccer balls or 30kg by 2030. “
Of course, we all know how trustworthy companies are. recyclingBut the bottom line is that anyone who claims that the development of EVs will make them worse for the environment than gasoline-powered cars is either misinformed or trying to mislead.
Myth: Gasoline-powered cars are bad for the environment, so there’s no need to worry about the harms of EVs.
Gasoline cars are worse for the environment than EVs. But EVs good It’s for the environment. Anyone who tells you this is either misinformed or trying to mislead you.
In a recent survey This same argument, Guardian Gasoline-powered cars were found to have a worse impact on the planet than electric cars, but the report concluded with an important conclusion: “The environmental sensitivity of electric vehicles does not absolve purchasers of battery minerals from liability for misuse in the supply chain.”
As The Washington Post Michael J. Coren, climate advice columnist I wrote it last year:
Mining minerals is not a clean business. Cobalt from the Congo, lithium and graphite from China, nickel from Indonesia and Russia, Xinjiang, Uyghur Region Countries where forced labour is prevalent: All of these have pressing problems. The Washington Post our”Clean cars, the hidden price” series. Guinea has the world’s largest reserves of bauxite, the raw material for aluminum. Local CommunityIndonesian nickel refiners Dangerous TechnologyMiners in South Africa, the world’s largest manganese producer, Neurological disorders.
“The transition to low-carbon fuels is not a magic pill that has no negative consequences,” Sergey Partsev, a senior research scientist at MIT, told Cohen. “There’s no free lunch, but it’s much less harmful than continuing to use fossil fuels. That’s the bottom line.”“
Myth: The U.S. power grid cannot accommodate widespread adoption of EVs.
HEATED reader Oscar asked us to investigate the widely held claim that a significant increase in electric vehicle adoption would put a huge strain on the U.S. power grid.
Oscar also wanted to know to what extent the U.S.’s current infrastructure would need to be updated to accommodate a significant increase in EV adoption.
For a really detailed answer to both questions, see the 2022 Scientific American article “Why electric cars won’t disrupt the power grid” But if you don’t have time, I’ll just quote one main point.
“We can’t just sit back and say, ‘OK, the grid is fine. It’s going to take care of itself,'” Baldwin added. “We’re going to have to be careful and we’re going to have to make some adjustments to how we do things, but overall I’m optimistic that this can be done.”
The big takeaway for me from this article is how much gasoline car advocates are exaggerating the strain EVs will put on the power grid.
In California, which is the national leader in electric vehicles with more than 1 million plug-in electric vehicles, EV charging currently accounts for less than 1% of the grid’s total load during peak hours. With California’s EV fleet expected to top 5 million in 2030, charging is projected to account for less than 5% of that load, Buckley said, calling it a “small” additional demand.
But more and more people are buying EVs. world—It’s true that utilities will have to make adjustments to meet increased demand, but experts say it’s not as big a deal as gasoline-powered vehicle advocates make it out to be.
“We’re talking about a pretty gradual transition over the next few decades,” said Ryan Galentine, transportation policy director at Advanced Energy Economy. “Adding that kind of capacity is well within the ability of utilities.”
Its success will depend on utilities being able to aggressively plan for the millions of EVs on the road over the next few decades, which experts say will require some coordination: EV owners and utilities will have to take advantage of modern charging technologies that don’t put unnecessary strain on the power grid.
Further clarification on EV claims
Guardian “EV Myth-Breaker” SeriesA book written by financial journalist Jasper Jolly was extremely helpful in deepening my understanding of EV misinformation.
If you can’t be bothered to read the whole thing, here are the questions Jolly tackles, along with some key quotes from his research:
- Are electric cars a greater fire risk than petrol or diesel cars?
Important Quotes: “All the data shows that EVs are much less likely to catch fire than gasoline-powered cars,” said Colin Walker, head of transport at the think tank Energy and Climate Information Unit, but “they pose a distinct mystery to firefighters because battery fires require more water to put out, burn almost three times hotter and are more likely to reignite.” EV FireSafe. “ - Is it right to worry about being stranded in an electric car? Important Quotes: “Eliminating range anxiety is difficult as it depends on electric vehicle usage patterns and charging networks, and we are still not sure that all journeys are adequately covered… But most authorities are clear that range anxiety should not be an issue for most people.”
- Are electric cars too heavy for our roads, bridges and parking lots?
Important Quotes: “Some car park owners will be affected and road maintenance costs may increase as electric trucks become more widespread due to their added weight, but almost all of the direct costs would be borne by infrastructure maintenance budgets. ECIU’s Walker said concerns about the increased weight of EVs were simply “greatly exaggerated”. But he added that car makers have a responsibility to make small electric cars after years of focusing on SUVs, which have the highest profit margins. - Do electric cars have air pollution issues?
Important Quotes: “Certainly, the heavier the car, the more particulate matter it emits from its tyres. Electric cars are currently heavier than comparable cars. But still, it seems like petrol, diesel and electric cars pollute from their tyres about the same.” - Will electric cars be too expensive and lure drivers away from petrol and diesel cars?
Important Quotes: “While it makes a lot of economic sense for drivers in a city like Los Angeles, it’s a different calculus for drivers on Texas highways,” Shivers said. “Everyone’s situation is different, so it will be very individualized,” he added. - Will hydrogen overtake batteries in the race to develop zero-emission vehicles? Important Quotes: “The answer is no,” Liebreich said without a moment’s hesitation, adding that betting on a big share of hydrogen would be “completely wrong” and set itself up for costly disappointment.
Breaking the EV myth ParentsJasper Jolly
