We got the first to replace our 10-year-old, gas-powered Subaru, and after only two years of driving, the E.V. has created fewer emissions over its lifetime than if we had kept the old car. It will take our second E.V. only four years to create fewer emissions over its lifetime than the 2005 hybrid Prius it replaced. That’s counting the production of the batteries and the emissions from charging the E.V.s, and the emissions payback time will only continue to drop as more emissions-free wind and solar power comes onto the grid and battery technology improves.
The author of course did not look at having one less car, and substituting an ebike or mass transit for part of their driving, which would have lowered emissions by a larger amount.
I would consider buying an electric car if there were any lightweight options that are not packed to the brim with annoying and unnecessary electronics as well as surveillance tech.
But there seem to be no such options and thus I plan to keep my 2008 ICE car that still has none of that BS running as long as I can.
Its really odd that as a tech enthusiast you are forced to look for things with as little tech as possible, as the tech that is forced on you is so bad that I rather go without it.
An EV conversion is probably the only option, if you want a no frills EV
The Aptera might fit the bill for a minimalist-ish EV, but I share your sentiment, and if that doesn’t live up to what it’s promised, I’ll be sticking with my 1996 ICE as well.
Right, if you need a car, an electric car is best for rhe environment. Even better is to not need a car. Better still is for your parents to have not reproduced so as to create one less human on earth. Why didn’t the author compare not existing to owning an EV? Because that’s not a reasonable comparison.
An ebike is not a replacement for a car. Relocating to a walkable urban space with functional public transit is not feasible for most people. It is not unreasonable when comparing the relative benefits of different cars to limit the discussion to, you know, cars.
An ebike is not a replacement for a car. Relocating to a walkable urban space with functional public transit is not feasible for most people. It is not unreasonable when comparing the relative benefits of different cars to limit the discussion to, you know, cars.
No, the discussion should be about fixing the actual problem (lack of walkable urban spaces).
There are places in the world outside of urban spaces. Some of us even visit and/or live there.
Some of us even visit and/or live there.
“Some” is doing a lot of heavy lifting there. In the US about 80% of the population is urban, which means we even if we only fix things for the urban folks and ignore the rural ones, we still solve 80% of the problem and that’s pretty damn good.
Frankly, I’m really starting to get sick and tired of the “but I’m a special snowflake, what about me” rebuttal – it’s disingenuous, reactionary and misses the big picture, which is that folks with exceptional circumstances just don’t fucking matter all that much, by definition. Sorry not sorry.
Cite your source. Pew Research reports that as of 2018 the mix was
- 25% Urban
- 43% Suburban (where I am)
- 30% Rural
Which puts your entire point in the shitter, by your own logic.
Edit- And if you cite Census.gov you should be aware they don’t recognize a distinction between suburban and urban, and we both know that for walking and mass transit they’re entirely different worlds.
Even if we go by your numbers, 30% is still negligible. (“Suburban” counts as urban, BTW.)
Also, my source is the US census and is newer than yours (2022).
Edit to reply to your edit: no, what you wrote…
we both know that for walking and mass transit they’re entirely different worlds.
…is bullshit. I absolutely do not accept that as a premise, because the suburbs are nothing more than defective urbanism. They are a straight-up mistake and should cease to exist. Every suburb, without exception, should either be densified to the point that walking and mass transit are viable, or razed and returned to farmland or wilderness.
“30% of the populace is negligible, and we should burn peoples neighborhoods to the ground.”
See my edit note. Census.gov doesn’t distinguish between Urban and Suburban. Do you really think 50% of the US population switched lifestyles in the last 5 years? Be reasonable.
See my edit note, and stop trying to condescend to tell me what “we both know” or that I’m not being “reasonable.” You are not entitled to assume that your position is some kind of default unassailable truth.
The census is right not to make that distinction!
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Ok. Build walkable urban spaces across America. In the meantime, people who need cars should get electric ones.
Yeah, that’s fine. It’s just important that it be understood that it’s a band-aid, not a cure.
I’m immediately put off by “relax.” Complacency is not the solution to the climate crisis. Consumerism is not the solution to the climate crisis. It’s going to take continuous collective action. It will take doing things that feel uncomfortable at first. Your flashy new EV that lets all your neighbors know you have EV money is not a boilerplate one size fits all solution. Your local municipality buying a garage to house and maintain a fleet of EV buses that transport ~2 people at a time is the solution.
People misunderstand how to assess if a bus is helping. They see a mostly empty bus and declare that it would have been better to have the two bus users in EVs when the reality is that as soon as you have the emissions of a bus divided across 2 people, you’ve already beaten any possible single vehicle configuration thanks to scale. Not to mention, you want some leeway at 11pm so that at 5pm (rush hour) you have crush capacity.
The other thing with bus advocacy is that buses are not sexy like light rail or metro rail solutions, but you can effectively implement them immediately. They’re a magnificent transitional mass transit solution, and one you will probably want to have even after you have a light rail or metro rail solution because sometimes you’ll need to do track maintenance and move transit passengers onto buses for those portions, and that the attractiveness of your mass transit solution is all about the final mile of transit. You can put a bus stop almost anywhere, ensuring that people can arrive conveniently and safely at their destination, even if there’s absolutely no way you could put a rail station nearby.
“Relax, Electric Vehicles Really Are the Best Choice for the Climate” screams of privilege…
We got the first to replace our 10-year-old, gas-powered Subaru, and after only two years of driving, the E.V. has created fewer emissions over its lifetime than if we had kept the old car.
That’s no way this is true, if the carbon footprint of the manufacture of the new EV is considered.
Most of the recent studies I’ve seen estimate over 40% of life cycle carbon debt from cars is making them. ~15 years ago I heard Peter Singer say it was over half.
If you need a car, don’t ever buy a new one.
Better than trains that can last decades and run fully electric without batteries that will inevitably go obsolete and dumped? I know it can’t be a solution for everyone but don’t tell me a city like LA couldn’t do more and eliminate the need for cars for half it’s population. Cut the $20b of oil subsidies and start building up passenger routes
fuck cars
and fuck people selling technology as a solution instead of system change.
Technology got us into this mess starting in the 1800s, it’s not magically going to get us out of it
Relax. EV’s really are the best choice for auto-industry executives.
