Tire Dust Makes Up the Majority of Ocean Microplastics
Tire Dust Makes Up the Majority of Ocean Microplastics
Recent studies have shown tire emissions to be a larger threat to global health than anyone realized—and EVs could make the problem worse.
There is a discussion on Hacker News, but feel free to comment here as well.
people will look at this study and say ‘oh so EVs are even worse than ICE cars!’, when the real answer is just less cars
Micropastic is one out of many issues. CO2 is definitely more pressing, where BEV clearly are better. In other words: BEV are better compared to ICE and still crap compared to bikes etc.
less cars
Sadly, that thought is absolutely incomprehensible for many many people, including most city planners. We truly live in a silly timeline.
Both are technically true.
EV's are worse on average because they are about 30% heavier than their ICE equivalents, so they'll go through tires faster.
But because of that, they'll also wear down road surfaces faster, requiring more construction thet emits, and requiring more use of concrete.
The weight of an EV depends on various factors, such as the size of the battery pack and the overall design of the vehicle. Some EVs may be heavier due to larger battery packs, while others may be lighter or comparable in weight to ICE vehicles. it is not accurate to generalize that EVs are heavier on average and therefore cause 30% more tyre dust (wtf did you pull this number from).
Extremely heavy vehicles, such as commercial trucks and buses, cause the majority of wear and tear on roads. Damage caused by the shift to EVs is likely to be marginal, especially when compared to the damage caused by these large vehicles.
Cars had a weight problem long before electric vehicles with their heavy batteries hit the road. The real issue with tyre dust is the overall trend of heavier vehicles, not just the introduction of EVs.
Larger electric vehicles, those weighing over two tons, are responsible for far more wear on road surfaces and emissions of tyre dust. However, this is not solely due to EVs, but rather the general trend of larger and heavier vehicles. the trend of SUVs is far worse and these cars on average are heavier than an EV sedan, which the absolute majority of evs are.
more trains less cars reason #938