- Apr 30, 2013
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I'm for more public transportation in the US but politically it is largely a dead issue, though there at least are groups fighting to change that.
That's the sad reality. All the real evidence is that widespread car ownership is highly problematic, in a way that's obvious to anybody looking at this from a systems perspective, but car-based culture and infrastructure are deeply rooted in life in North America as both a narrative and built reality. Even a country like the UK, which is one of the most car-heavy in Europe, has about 2/3 the rate of obesity of the US. It's because people there, even though they eat mostly the same (largely bad) foods, on average walk 2,000 steps more per day, compared to people in North America.
In the US, every year gyms mostly are sold as a way for people to try to get physically fit (often as a New Years resolution after the gluttony of the holidays). 30 minutes of cardio once or twice a week isn't going to make up for the fact most people are driving to the gym in the first place, and driving everywhere else they go. A person that does 30 minutes on a treadmill or elliptical once or twice a week (the most the average person in the US can manage) isn't going to be as healthy as somebody that walks 10,000 steps every day consistently, even though the walking is often far less intense in terms of cardiovascular exercise.
And that isn't saying anything about pedestrian deaths, environmental pollution, etc. Just from a physical health standpoint, sitting for hours in traffic every week doesn't make sense.
Ah yes, for lithium China has over half of the world's refining capability but Australia mines the most lithium. China has purchased rights to vast amounts of cobalt:
Everyone charging their cars at night could change the dynamics so that peak overall electricity usage is during the night.From Cobalt to Cars: How China Exploits Child and Forced Labor in the Congo
Child and forced labor taint the supply chain of cobalt, a metal that is a critical component in the lithium-ion batteries and other products important for modern technologies, including electric vehicles.www.cecc.gov
Doubtful. The biggest drains on the electric grid are industries and commercial buildings, not households. Electric cars aren't really going to change that.
And remember too that the majority of electrical power in this country is produced from fossil fuels. How much efficiency is lost by burning fossil fuels and then transporting electricity over the wires to be installed in batteries, and then the batteries lose charge when not in use (especially in cold climates?) Like I've said, there is more wear and tear on roads and tires. Why not consider the more and more efficient gas powered cars that we are producing? Perhaps hydrogen powered cars will be the future. There is no one clear top choice, and so the government needs to stay out of it.
Internal combustion engines, like gasoline engines, have an upper limit in terms of efficiency that's really quite low, around 35 percent. So it's really quite easy to beat them in terms of efficiency, by switching to an electric-based motor.
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