We will never consumer our way of of a problem capitalism created. And public transit is nearly always a better solution to spending on car infrastructure.
... but... If you're gonna buy a new car anyway, they have the potential to cause less climate impact (although they're still environmentally devastating in other ways). As power generation becomes cleaner, so too do the cars. ICE cars are already about as environmentally friendly as they're gonna get, but EVs still have a lot of potential improvement (both in emissions and in things like material mining).
Although the tire microplastics is gonna get worse.
Double overly reductionist takes with no positive contribution. Congrats! This is crap.
My electric car was manufactured ONCE. It's powered by 99% green power (hydroelectric). It burns no gas/diesel, requires no oil changes. I intend on keeping it for 15+ years (my last vehicle got to 16 years before the electrical system fried).
It is better by literally every measure short of walking everywhere.
It isn't.
But staying on fossil fuels is even worse. And by a lot.
Well, the carbon footprint calculator I used may not be accurate, but for the same mileage on my car vs an electric car is about 1/2 the carbon... and I assume the electric car's footprint decreases even more over time...
Certainly, electric cars aren't solving all the problems, but reducing my carbon footprint by 1/2 over a 10 year period sounds like a pretty good start.
Recently my parents got a car for emergency situations (like dropping my sister to school when busses are cancelled and she can't bike because of rain). And when I did the research for a car with them, I realised just how good cars with sub 1L engines are (3-4l per 100km in the city). Sure, they are not gonna be fast, but they are still faster than the speed limit of 120km/h on our highways here. I am personally hoping to buy a rx8 or a na miata soon for enthusiast reasons. Modern transport should be 100% public.
Edit: grammar and spelling
If they're made instead of making fossil fuel vehicles, they do (addressing the cartoon, not the barely related added title) . Cars will still be made as many become no longer repairable. Which kind to build? Yes, better to make more electric buses and trains, but cars wont simply vanish in any scenario.
Yeah but they're way more fun to drive
Electric cars are indeed much worse for the climate at production time than combustion cars likely will be throughout their entire lifetime.
But this matters little, as the electric car is not made to be the perfect alternative, it is instead made to be the "weird in between solution" that we need to bring as many devices as possible to use a common power source and get people acquainted with the concept, before moving to the actual solution.
The next steps will be better battery technology because, let's face it, lithium gel batteries suck, and proper power sources.
In the end, I guess it's kind of a "chicken and egg" situation.
What about just not using cars?
The main issue in the push for electric cars, is that we're pretending that we can fix things with no lifestyle changes.
And for the richer people, that's probably true. But there's a big chunk of people for whom the electric car revolution means no more personal transport.
I accept that, but we need to invest in public transport exponentially more than we are doing. It needs subsidising up the wazoo so people outside the inner-city bubble can still get around. By just pretending that electric cars will reach affordable levels for the poorest, we're inviting trouble further down the line when they can't use their petrol cars any more.
The used market is going to be full of gas cars for a longtime. Look there of you need gas otherwise go electric if you can.
Just some points that I have not seen discussed-
- Time to refuel / practical vehicle range 1a. The cost involved in having charging installed on your property
- Weather. Snow. Effect of cold on batteries. I know everyone hates those evil SUV's, bit when there's 14" of snow on the ground your tesla/volt/insert your favorite EV ain't gonna cut it
- To the "just put in mass transit" crowd, do you feel that eminent domain is justified to take property from someone to fulfill this need?
Honestly not trying to troll, these are real questions that should be answered
And for the record, my vehicle is a compact sedan, getting on average 34-37mpg, so I'm not in that dick-size contest over who's truck has the bigger lift kit
Keeping an old car is better, but having one that works is even better than that. Cause, you know, eventually cars stop working. That's a thing.
What if I told you buying an EV is more about not paying for gas than it is about fighting climate change.
#sobbing, crying, utterly inconsolable.
All I want is small, cheap, reliable economy boxes back. Simple, uncomplicated, user servicable, cheap cars. Engine, transmission, differential, a cab, lights, wind down windows. Without an unnecessary extra 5 miles off wires for the equally unnecessary half ton of electronics and plastic.
Unfortunately that seems to be an unreasonable ask nowadays.
