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
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
www.sciencedirect.com
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....
And ceramic brake dust! Yummy 😋
But employers are increasingly ordering people back to work and even just the fear of it is measurably impact staff wellbeing.
Some studies have shown work from home may eliminate the commute miles, but those miles are replaced with leisure and errands miles. So ultimately we still need transit to replace a lot of car trips cause be it work, grocceries, or a night out, people need to get places.
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.
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