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I just want to add that a good portion of buyers think they are "saving the environment" by buying an electrical car because it doesn't burn any fuel. However I was amazed when I realized that most of them don't understand that the electricity their car uses is most probably (around 94% [1]) generated using fossil fuels and due to loss of energy during transmission they are in fact less efficient than your good old gas burning car.
[1] this 94% is just what I remember from some years ago. seeing as countries and governments have started adapting renewable forms of a energy recently it's probably not as bad but still far from ideal which means the point still stands.
The EPA has pretty decent information on EVs and carbon emissions. https://www.epa.gov/greenvehicles/electric-vehicle-myths
and #1 myth is that because the electricity is coming from a power plant using fossil fuels, it's worse than an ICE vehicle
that highly depends on where you live and is probably wildly exaggerated for most of the people reading your comment
Not to mention that even if you are burning fossil fuels to power your EV, burning said fuel in a power plant and storing it in a battery is vastly more efficient than burning it in your own little personal power plant (i.e. an internal combustion engine).
I think I read somewhere that driving a typical EV on a full charge is the energy equivalent of having a typical ICE car with a 3 gallon tank of gas.
You do realize not everyone lives where you do right? You basically just made up a number to judge everyone when I'm reality, plenty of people are not getting their energy from fossil fuels. For example where I live, Ontario, the majority of our power comes from nuclear and hydro to the point where we call our power bill, the hydro bill. In fact fossil fuels don't even make up the top 3 or even close to 10% with wind coming ahead of it.
And we aren't the only place where the majority of electricity is generated from non fossil fuel sources so maybe next time you wanna judge others, do some research first or realize a world exists outside wherever you live.
I do not have a Tesla vehicle but this is flat out wrong. Electric motors are way more efficient per mile than IC motors, and transmission does not make a dent.
Elmo is a middle school bully, and electric vehicles are still problematic in a lot of ways, but your criticisms are not based in reality, and have been debunked as right wing talking points.
I’d say it’s less about the source of the electricity, and more that electric cars are in no way positive for the environment. Between requiring extremely environmentally damaging extraction of a variety of rare minerals, their extreme weight which means they put out MORE microplastics from their tires than a normal car, and do MORE damage to road infrastructure than a normal car, and being inherently an individualistic method of transportation and thus inherently multiple HUNDREDS of times less efficient than mass public transit, these things are just cars for rich people to feel good about their consumption.
Funny thing, over 90% of the pollution caused by gasoline burning cars is from the TIRES, not the engines. So you’re saving less than 10% emissions, and polluting even further than a similarly sized passenger car would, in a way that is deceptively damaging. Microplastics are linked to cancer, infertility, and a vast array of other illnesses.
If you’re an environmentalist, buy a fucking electric bicycle and push your city to expand electrified mass transit. Don’t push for individualized cars as a solution.
I don't agree with your first two paragraphs, but I 1000% agree with the last one.
Ultimately the vast VAST majority of ALL emissions come from sources outside of most people's sphere of influence anyway. The Steel industry for example is dirty AF, and yet for some reason they get a hall pass
This is always used as an argument against going electric, but it's flawed for a few reasons.
1st, that 94% doesn't hold everywhere. I live in NZ. We're at about 80% renewable for grid energy.
2nd, the type of people who can afford, and choose to go electric for environmental reasons, are the same people who are likely to be installing solar panels and other renewables at the property.
3rd, even you have pointed out that your 94% figure is well out of date... because most governments (Except a few derps) are trying to increase the percentage of renewable energy in their grids. I'm not sure where you are, but assuming you're in the US, it's actually 78% now, and 60% for the UK
4th, the cars themselves generate power through solar, and regenerative breaking. No, it's probably not enough to keep you running without plugging in to the grid, but it is a further reduction.
There are environmental issues related to electric cars, but they're in the manufacturing. Not in the reliance on grid energy. Assuming that the car survives it's full lifecycle, even only relying on grid power with their current percentages of renewables, the overall impact is STILL a net reduction in emissions.
There are plenty non-environmental reasons for going electric too
TL;DR: Ye, nah, the grid energy argument doesn't hold water. Love it or hate it, electric cars are the future.