Now electric vehicles are BAD for the environment

[Aldebaran]

Just as the environmentalists and government people really start ramping up their efforts to make us switch from gasoline engined vehicles to electric, it's now revealed that they're bad for the planet as well.

"The EU is pumping billions into promoting electric vehicles (EVs) – 200 million are expected to be on the road by 2028. But EVs are not as green as they are portrayed: their production consumes vast amounts of cobalt, nickel, manganese and rare earths that are mined in the rainforests of Africa, Southeast Asia and South America."

Electric vehicles are stealth rainforest killers!

 

[Landon Caeli]

Just as the environmentalists and government people really start ramping up their efforts to make us switch from gasoline engined vehicles to electric, it's now revealed that they're bad for the planet as well.

"The EU is pumping billions into promoting electric vehicles (EVs) – 200 million are expected to be on the road by 2028. But EVs are not as green as they are portrayed: their production consumes vast amounts of cobalt, nickel, manganese and rare earths that are mined in the rainforests of Africa, Southeast Asia and South America."

Electric vehicles are stealth rainforest killers!

Oh man. I really want to protect the rainforest, especially in South America, because the monkeys, pink River dolphins, manatees, etc.

 

[Aldebaran]

Oh man. I really want to protect the rainforest, especially in South America, because the monkeys, pink River dolphins, manatees, etc.

Well, no electric vehicle then. Certainly no gas powered one. A bicycle perhaps?

 

[timewerx]

Well, no electric vehicle then. Certainly no gas powered one. A bicycle perhaps?

My main transport atm is bicycle. Not really bad, it's great exercise, even cured me of hypertension and avoided diabetes which runs in the family.

It's not just electric vehicles but the whole modern semiconductor industry is bad for the environment.

 

[Quid est Veritas?]

This isn't new though. The production of products are also part and parcel of their environmental credentials. I had heard this argument before, specifically to do with platinum and hydrogen cars. Also, the electricity needs to be generated somewhere, so introducing electric cars to countries with largely fossil fuel based grids will worsen the car-based emmissions - and likely require expansion of those grids with their concomittent extra environmental effect.

The real way to decrease emmissions is austerity, which is essentially what you are doing when you rather walk or take a bike. You can't expect that you can just continue our current lifestyle and just substituting one thing for another that it will magically solve the issue. Alternately you could actively do geo-engineering with whatever unforseen consequences those will have.

 

[timewerx]

To produce an almost "green" motorized transport, the vehicle should drop as much electronic features it could.

And develop an engine that works on "negative entropy". Scientists, especially quantum physicists knows its possible, just its association with "perpetual motion" makes it taboo in scientific circles.

We have plenty of "unspoken" rules in this world. Until we can finally break free from them, we will continue doing absurdly stupid things.

 

[timewerx]

The real way to decrease emmissions is austerity, which is essentially what you are doing when you rather walk or take a bike. You can't expect that you can just continue our current lifestyle and just substituting one thing for another that it will magically solve the issue. Alternately you could actively do geo-engineering with whatever unforseen consequences those will have.

Ironic. Cycling is an enjoyable form of transport, plenty, even the rich have taken to cycling during Covid pandemic not as a matter of austerity but as sense of accomplishment (going from pt A to pt B under your own power) with a hugely positive impact on one's physical health.

Electric bikes have become popular as well and obviously has far smaller environmental footprint than electric cars.

 

[Sunshinee777]

Who is surprised? Lol. I love these scientists.

 

[Gene2memE]

Just as the environmentalists and government people really start ramping up their efforts to make us switch from gasoline engined vehicles to electric, it's now revealed that they're bad for the planet as well.

"The EU is pumping billions into promoting electric vehicles (EVs) – 200 million are expected to be on the road by 2028. But EVs are not as green as they are portrayed: their production consumes vast amounts of cobalt, nickel, manganese and rare earths that are mined in the rainforests of Africa, Southeast Asia and South America."

Electric vehicles are stealth rainforest killers!

This is nothing new or startling to EV advocates, policy makers or environmentalists.

The issue of life cycle environmental costs for EVs vs ICEs has been debated since the 1990s, at least.

IIRC life cycle emissions costs for an EV is about 60% that of a ICE vehicle. That figure only gets better as we transition to renewables for electricity generation.

 

[Subduction Zone]

To produce an almost "green" motorized transport, the vehicle should drop as much electronic features it could.

And develop an engine that works on "negative entropy". Scientists, especially quantum physicists knows its possible, just its association with "perpetual motion" makes it taboo in scientific circles.

We have plenty of "unspoken" rules in this world. Until we can finally break free from them, we will continue doing absurdly stupid things.

Really? Please give an example of "negative entropy". Just wishing that something was true does not make it so.

And as to the OP, yes electric vehicles are not perfect. They will have a negative impact on the ecology. The problem is that fossil fuels appear to have a larger negative impact. They are far greener than gasoline or diesel powered vehicles just as they are greener than coal powered vehicles.

 

[Aussie Pete]

Just as the environmentalists and government people really start ramping up their efforts to make us switch from gasoline engined vehicles to electric, it's now revealed that they're bad for the planet as well.

"The EU is pumping billions into promoting electric vehicles (EVs) – 200 million are expected to be on the road by 2028. But EVs are not as green as they are portrayed: their production consumes vast amounts of cobalt, nickel, manganese and rare earths that are mined in the rainforests of Africa, Southeast Asia and South America."

Electric vehicles are stealth rainforest killers!

Every human activity has some kind of negative as well as a positive. The question is net benefit. I'll be delighted when EV's become the norm. I live near a highway and it can be very noisy when the wind blows in a certain direction. When the hoons drive near silent cars, I won't mind a bit.

Ev's are not rainforest killers. It's the governments that sacrifice forests for short term gain. This process was underway decades before EV's became a reasonable mode of transport. I'd have an EV any day.

One day I will have a bumper sticker that reads: "Government health warning. Being alive is hazardous to your health".

 

[IWalkAlone]

Buys electric car and charges it on fossil fuel.

 

[trunks2k]

Buys electric car and charges it on fossil fuel.

Which is still better than powering it with gasoline. A centralized fossil fuel electric generator is much more efficient than an ICE.

 

[durangodawood]

Which is still better than powering it with gasoline. A centralized fossil fuel electric generator is much more efficient than an ICE.

Yes, and the possibility of transition to various renewables is open, whereas with ICE its closed.

 

[durangodawood]

Well, no electric vehicle then. Certainly no gas powered one. A bicycle perhaps?

Yes a bicycle.
It healthy and fun. And quite viable for many kinds of trips, tho in the USA we've dug ourselves a deep hole by designing every single thing around the automobile.

 

[Landon Caeli]

Yes a bicycle.
It healthy and fun. And quite viable for many kinds of trips, tho in the USA we've dug ourselves a deep hole by designing every single thing around the automobile.

I often wonder what it would have been like if horses were still the main mode of transportation. In some California cities, like Compton, it's not uncommon to see people riding horses in the city.

 

[durangodawood]

I often wonder what it would have been like if horses were still the main mode of transportation. In some California cities, like Compton, it's not uncommon to see people riding horses in the city.

Interesting. I cant quite see it for most people, considering how many would be required in city density. And I think horses require waaaay more care than a bike.

 

[Landon Caeli]

Interesting. I cant quite see it for most people, considering how many would be required in city density. And I think horses require waaaay more care than a bike.

The city would likely smell quite different.

 

[durangodawood]

The city would likely smell quite different.

Yes quite a stink.

The Big Crapple: NYC Transit Pollution from Horse Manure to Horseless Carriages - 99% Invisible

 

[98cwitr]

Well, no electric vehicle then. Certainly no gas powered one. A bicycle perhaps?

Return to horseback ("I shoulda been a cowboy" by Toby Keith plays)!

 

[Landon Caeli]

Yes quite a stink.

The Big Crapple: NYC Transit Pollution from Horse Manure to Horseless Carriages - 99% Invisible

Thanks for that! I always wondered what that must have been like.