ua549

There are many reasons why EVs are not a solution to environmental issues. EVs are environmentally neutral at best. Batteries have a myriad of issues centered on mining, refining and disposal. EVs simply relocate widely distributed air pollution and concentrate it around electricity generation facilities. Most electric generation in the US relies on fossil fuel. Nuclear has its own environmental risks including mining, refining and disposal of waste. If you rob Peter to pay Paul you end up with a sore Peter. The only source of environmentally friendly and reliable electricity is by using water, i.e., hydroelectric.

Newbyloub

I’m convinced we all prefer not having a sore Peter.

chassis

All true. Can it be said that ICE vehicles are the strategy to ward off the next 8.2-kiloyear event or next Little Ice Age?

ua549

There is a shortage of electricity and I think that increased electric power generation will significantly contribute to global warming.

Most of the world's electricity is produced by burning coal!

SW20S

The plight of the $130,000 car buyer doesn't usually draw much attention lol.

I mean, its annoying? But I wish I had enough free mental space to be irritated for more than 40 seconds over paying $210 for tags.

They don't get any gas taxes, they're going to get their taxes somehow. Expect every state to charge a similar fee for EVs. Its literally 3 tanks of gas...who cares?

chassis

Stay tuned to more and more carmaker CEO statements. Toyota's CEO late last year made a public comment that EVs should likely not be the only option. Tavares from Stellantis recently commented about cost (to carmakers) of EVs and the lack of ability to scale them from a manufacturing/supply chain point of view and from a charging infrastrutcure point of view. Let alone the well-known fact that EVs are incapable of solving every use case.

In other news, carmakers are pushing back (delaying) timelines to broaden their fleet electrification.

SW20S

I wouldn't listen to anything Toyota says about EVs, they misjudged the market and are so woefully behind in EV tech they will say anything to try and remain relevant. I also wouldn't listen to Stellantis at all.

When companies like Mercedes and BMW back off, I will listen. Otherwise its ineffective leaders just trying to hide how badly they have been caught with their pants down.

MBNUT1

LOL Good one!

MBNUT1

If you focus solely on CO2 emissions, EV's in general are a net win over the car's life cycle, relative to it's ICE counterpart.

Utopia Texas

Carbonated soft drinks are the cause of global warming and should be banned.

ua549

How do you come to that conclusion? You must be omitting the CO₂ emissions from the fossil fuel being burned to generate the power used by EV's. Per MIT.edu, manufacturing an 80 kWh battery in China produces up to 16,000 tonnes of CO₂. My car produces about 1 tonne of CO₂ during an entire year of driving. Another tidbit is that every tonne of mined lithium produces 15 tonnes of CO₂. Once again EV's simply redistribute and concentrate CO₂ emissions to non-US parts of the world.

MBNUT1

Not omitting the C02 from upstream energy generation or the C02 required for battery production. Sure if your use case is to drive a 1000 miles a year it will be a long time for the EV to recover the sunk cost of the battery generation but then its life cycle will extend accordingly.

https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/news/a...e-environment/

While the C02 emissions may be generated locally it's not like they don't mix into the entire atmosphere and only have local impact on climate change.

https://climate.mit.edu/ask-mit/ther...n-we-remove-it

Having said the above EV's are not the panacea for transportation contribution to climate change. If we were truly serious we would focus on increasing use of public transportation

chassis

MB is a has-been automaker. They are reaching for the stars tech-wise and falling on their faces reliability- and delivered quality-wise.

To ignore two of the largest automaker CEOs makes no sense to me.

MBNUT1

"Toyota among the ‘2022 world’s most obstructive companies on climate policy’ with oil giants"

https://electrek.co/2022/11/04/toyot...e-policy-2022/

SW20S

We know you hate MB, but there is no reason other than that to make that statement

ua549

I drive slightly less than 4,000 miles per year as does my working full time daughter. An EV battery will die of old age regardless of the miles driven.

People will avoid public surface transportation due to the inflexible route structure and inconvenient schedules, inability to transport "things" with the passenger, cleanliness and safety. The common advice at O'hare airport is that if you want to arrive downtown with your bags, do not take the CTA.

MBNUT1

Citing the C02 cost of building a battery above an EQS driver who drives 12500 miles a year in my zip code (hardly the greenest power source) will recover the CO2 consumption of manufacturing the battery, that an equivalent S Class ICE driver emits in 2 years (including upstream C02 in both cases).

https://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/Find...id=45023&#tab2

The comment on public transportation is more a sad statement about the state of this country than an invalidation of the merit of it as a means of emissions reductions.

https://www.ricksteves.com/travel-ti...y-transit-tips

We traveled across Ireland and France without a car just fine. Intend to do the same in Italy.

ua549

You are a leisure traveler most likely traveling by train in Europe where distances are short and trains are plentiful. Were you also carrying luggage? That doesn't work for a typical driver in the US who is on a tight schedule and carrying work materials. The US was developed around the automobile. Trains are almost non-existent. Urban sprawl is ever present. Los Angeles has an area of 469 sq. miles. Greater Los Angeles has an area of 2,281 sq. miles. Simply stated public transportation is not practical in urban sprawl areas.

Utopia Texas

Also here in the Houston, Texas area. Houston is 70 miles across in every direction.

ua549

I didn't realize that greater Houston was that large until I looked up the details (10,062 sq. Miles) that is slightly smaller than Massachusetts but larger than New Jersey.

c4004matic

The Dallas Ft Worth loop is over 100 miles in diameter!

ua549

I drive there every year, then head north to OKC. Before I retired Mesquite, TX government was a client that I visited once a month.

HAILERS2

Don't you dare attack my Coka Cola. You've steped over the line when you did that ! And I'm keeping my gas stove despite loonies at the EPA.

Utopia Texas

You will own nothing and you will like it….

nath_h

In my state, the legislature did this a few years ago. It seemed to be political at the time to punish the perceived liberals who were wanting to drive EV's. But I get it that we are not paying fuel tax, and using the roads. As more states added this extra fee, it feels less punitive to me.