The underbelly of electric vehicles

[dave_the_nerd]

It's not like drilling for oil is good for the planet or it's not a finite resource. But okay.

 

[Brainonska511]

It's not like drilling for oil is good for the planet or it's not a finite resource. But okay.

Exactly.

If anything, the big underbelly is Americans' love of excessively large vehicles, which means more battery material needs to be used in each vehicle to keep range at levels that will sell. Some of the current electric pickups use 2.5x more battery capacity than smaller sedan/hatchback EVs. (But yes, I know, everyone is a contractor that needs to routinely haul their refrigerator or whatever, because delivery services and rentals are not a thing).

 

[repoman0]

I hate to admit it, but I don't drive enough to get an EV.

Care for the Environment and Don't Drive Often? Buy a Gas-Powered Car, Harvard Study Says

EV owners who seldom drive aren't doing the environment any favors, according to this Harvard research that spanned over two and half years

www.autoevolution.com

Not sure why they needed a study to figure this out. Obviously EVs should get into the hands of the typical 12000 annual mileage drivers first. The rest of us who drive a quarter of that or less should use up the rest of the useful life of the remaining ICE vehicles out there. It doesn’t seem like buying a new gas powered car is a good answer for anyone though at this point.

 

[Red Squirrel]

55,749 miles is 89,719km yeah I think it's safe to say I would not end up going that high before the vehicle is rusting out and falling apart. I have not driven that much in my life time. In fact I don't think I've driven that much in my life time as a passenger. Even if I count all the family trips etc. That's basically going to Toronto and back about 90 times.

I do maybe 1-2 thousand km per year at most and that's probably being generous, I don't really keep track. I put a bit more now that I got my off grid land since it's an hour and a half away but in reality I end up going maybe like 10ish times a year. Seems to me I'm better off just continuing to buy used gas vehicles even environmentally speaking. Definitely financially. I'll probably stick with trucks but newer ones are also getting more efficient so next one I buy will probably be like a 2015ish model or something like that. Hoping I can get one with aluminium body so it lasts longer.

I do hope that they come up with a cleaner battery tech though. I really do like the concept of EVs they just don't seem to be that great environmentally or financially at this point.