Study: Going electric cleaner overall than keeping an old car running
Study: Going electric cleaner overall than keeping an old car running | dpa international
This is only looking at emissions. It's absolutely not considering the consequences of the heavy metal mining that is required to produce those massive batteries. It also totally ignores the problem of how to dispose of, reuse, or recycle those old batteries once they can no longer be effective in your vehicle.
Obviously we ultimately need to dump internal combustion engines, but focusing solely on emissions is a kind of green washing meant to convince you to consume. The 3 R's (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle) continue to be the most effective way for an individual to limit their environmental impact. Those first 2 R's are all about reducing by taking public transport and re-using that older car (and keeping it well maintained to reduce consumption), not going out to buy the newest electric swastika.
I agree that we first need to reduce and reuse, but claiming that mining for lithium in and of itself upsets the benefits isn't fair either. It's not like oil extraction and transportation is somehow without environmental consequences, for animals and for humans. Those should not be ignored either!
Yes, we need strong protection for vital habitats, but that mean we need to use the last intrusive first, not that we shouldn't. Because continuing using diesel in our cities will poison everyone that lives there as well as the rest of the planet!
At the end of the day the environment which was saved due to not going for the lithium might die anyway because of the extra heat in the slightly longer perspective...
The moment someone makes an electric car that doesn't have an internet connection, I'll consider buying one. Any tips?
A lemmy user emailed Slate about tracking and data collection, and they responded that the Slate will have no wifi or tracking capabilities.
Also @ptc075@lemmy.zip
Your link doesn't work for me, but that's HUGE news. Thank you!
Do they mention what vehicle tracking they DO have however? For example, I'm sure they're required by law to at least have a black box recorder that captures your speed before a crash. What I do not know is how far the law has crept into mandatory vehicle tracking.
The upcoming Slate pickup claims to be focused on being a simple EV that a regular person could repair. It doesn't even have a stereo. That said, I have not specifically seen a guarantee that it doesn't have an internet connection.
Dacia Spring, VW e-up, Tesla Roadster (first gen) and compliance vehicles such as e-golf.
Probably a better idea to just pick one you like and then figure out how to disable any wireless communication. But this could really in warranty and charging issues.
The new Slate truck is the only one I can think of (not currently in production).
Some cars have a SIM card which you can remove.
I used to look forward to get a car with screens and cameras and beeps and bops. When i had one that was still pretty dumb for todays standards, i hated it. Oh the board computer stopped working, cool, no navi, no music and no more climate control for you and don't even mention how much a new board computer costs, that is still old and not better than the other one. I had to get a new car last year after not owning one for two, my car is now from 2004 and it's honestly just nice. Not a single button on the seering wheel, no touch screen. The only beeps it makes is 1. Handbreake 2. Seatbelt and 3. Light was left on. It's absolutely glorious
Mitsubishi made one but it was a glorified golf cart.
This was surprising to me. I definitely thought that the "embodied emissions" were a good reason to keep using my ICE vehicle. But it looks like this is specific to Germany's grid which is doing much better at making emission free electricity than my local power grid in Missouri. So switching to electric may still not be appropriate when I could probably keep my small ICE car going for another 5 years.
I wish they had a calculator with models of ICE cars, models of EVs, and locations that could help you determine when the best switch over point is.
You could do a quick comparison with the kgCO2e/kWh of each grid. I believe Germany recently transitioned to natural gas from nuclear, so they probably have higher grid emissions than you'd expect.
Probably a majority of emissions from natural gas are unintentional and unrecorded, related to leaks in the extraction process and supply chain.
True but how many electric cars will look as good as a 1961 Lincoln Continental?
Why would you want most electric cars to drop their looks to that level? <Insert rimshot>
That's fine. Drive your Lincoln all 50 miles/year you drive that car:). That's a non-issue in the grand scheme of things. Then you drive your electric to and from work and all other boring trips, or trips where you need a car you are certain not to break down. I hope you enjoy your fabulous car😊
I mean, if you're driving that everywhere, there's some problems, but I imagine you probably have a second car for practical stuff, which can be electric...
There are workshops taking out the engine and putting batteries and electric motors into those cars. Especially for a massive car like a Lincoln Continental that is relativly easy.
It’s not easy. There’s no room in them. You end up with no range either, not enough to get to the car show and back.
Does this account for the entire production line and recycling after? Or just directly emissions from the vehicle itself.
Electric cars are also far more expensive to own than my old car, they have internet connections, invasive telemetry, software updates, and are incredibly complex to troubleshoot and fix because of having so many electrical components and sensors.
So far over the last 10 years my old SUV has cost me on average about $190/month, that includes purchase price, insurance, registration, fuel, and all maintenance and upgrades including consumables like tires, and some more expensive stuff like aftermarket suspension because I like offroading.
The insurance and registration alone on a new EV would probably be near $200/month. Plus with my current vehicle I can do all the work myself, with an EV the closest shop is probably 3-5 hours away depending on brand, so I'd waste an entire day or two getting it serviced on top of the extreme cost of service.
This is the entire point of the article and study?
It isn't 100% clear to me from reading the link if it was done that way or not, that's why I was curious.