this post was submitted on 28 Nov 2023
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This sums it up pretty well. Battery powered EVs are still a luxury item both financially AND in terms of lifestyle. Most people don't have the finances or the ability to accommodate one, and I think the people who own them forget that as they spout tone deaf positivity about the virtues of owning an electric vehicle. But tbh, I am not even sure what maintenance you're talking about that's such a big deal. You've still got tires, brakes, suspension, and steering components to worry about. All that's missing over the typical <100k mile life of a vehicle are fluid changes every now and then. My understanding is that if you own a Honda, you can do basically nothing but oil changes and tire/brake maintenance and the car will still last forever lol.
What a dumb regressive take. Just because you can point out some problems with the solution doesn't mean it's not in the right direction.
Lithium is plentiful on earth. Yes we can't extract it cleanly now, but you know how we get better at that? Higher demand!
Electric cars and batteries are expensive, you know how we fix that? More production so we can leverage economies of scale. More production so that more research investment becomes profitable.
Electric cars can't yet cover all the use cases that ICE can do. That's not actually a problem at all. If we can cover even 75% of all transportation emissions that's a big step.
People having a "hard on for EVs" and paying a little more for a luxury product is exactly what we need to get to the next phase on EVs and to start phasing out ICE for general public transportation. I don't know why it makes you upset, but you can't pretend this isn't part of the solution. You'd have to be blind not to think electric transportation is part of the green future that's going to reduce global warming and keep the earth livable. Sure EVs aren't enough now, but EVs will be and passenger ICE vehicles are NEVER going to be enough EVER.
Actually, your response is a dumb take, and I don't know why you're acting so offended about facts--lol. Let's just look at your comments one by one:
Higher demand makes energy exploitation cleaner? Is that way oil and gas and strip mining is so clean nowadays? Lol.
Yes, batteries are expensive. Higher demand does drive more production, but lowered price of goods is only a textbook theory nowadays. Or is that why food has gotten so cheap lately? Is that why vehicles are so cheap post-COVID, because demand is so high? Lol.
I'll be waiting for your miracle battery, but it's still a leap away--we're not going to see exponential gains in battery capacity like we saw with computer processors. We literally cannot cover "75% of transportation emissions" because less than 60% of transportation emissions are derived from light road vehicles, most of them being trucks and SUVs: https://www.epa.gov/system/files/documents/2023-06/420f23016.pdf Sure, we can see that 58% shrink, but it'll be picked up in part by electrical generation and industry with more frequent vehicle replacements. But the corporations will be happy with your purchase. Lol.
People paying for luxury goods isn't what made cars take off back in the day. It was Henry Ford demanding his company produce a car that anyone could afford. As long as people keep buying expensive luxury EVs, they will always be out of reach of the regular person. You've been brainwashed. Lol.
Besides--I'm not against electric transportation. Bring on the electric powered buses and trains. Instead of morally pressuring people to make expensive purchases, why don't you lobby your government to invest in city infrastructure and design to reduce the need for personal transportation in the first place?
Now are you going to stop acting so upset now that I've set you straight, or are you going to come back with another unwarranted, unnecessarily snarky remark?
Oh another "this solution won't solve the problem so we should stop trying" take.
Electric transit can remove 75%+ of transportation emissions by definition. I never said personal electric vehicles will.
Investment in electric transportation technologies will drive the innovation we need to cut greenhouse emissions in the transportation sector.
Not investing in electric transportation, and sticking with the ICE status quo will NEVER help reduce emissions. A view that discourages investment in electric transportation is regressive because the current default fallback is ICE. If the fallback was electric trains I would agree with you.
No one is morally pressuring you into buying an electric car, people are getting excited that there are finally electric car offerings that meet their needs. If you can't find one, don't buy one. Stop discouraging people from doing something good just because it's not yet perfect.