Which Government is saying that electric cars are meant to be ‘the’ viable solution to the ‘greener planet we need’? They are a small part of the solution though, and are a proven and more sustainable lower carbon version of what we have already, a step in the right direction. It’s funny how nobody suggests the alternative, or is it just carry on as we are, burning stuff with zero attempt to reduce it?
Less consumption of everything, fewer private vehicles in total, more green public transport, less flying, de-carbonising of the electricity grid and food and, the elephant in the room, dramatically lower population growth will be the solution though, cars are just the tip of the iceberg. No pun intended.
Totally agree with your prescription there...Just not sure that getting folks to swap a car for another car is really the way towards persuading anyone to consume less of everything as it´s holding out the promise, the flawed conceit, that we can all continue to consume, just slightly differently...which is fallacious.
Well, it would be if existing ICE cars were somehow zero emission once they’d got to a certain age, but for petrol and diesel engines their main carbon emissions come from the use phase. 12kgs of carbon for every UK gallon burnt, and UK vehicles covering 880 million miles per day, you can see how it’s a big target to put a dent in, and why it’s being touted as a useful thing to do.
As for many people alternatives to their car is either non-existent or very inconvenient, then buying an EV the next time you change your car (and if you can, they’re expensive etc) is a step forward.
But, to try and say that EVs ‘won’t save the planet’ is in itself a fallacious argument. They won’t, but they were never going to, it’s merely a less polluting way of maintaining personal mobility. EVs as a step forward is easy, the really difficult stuff is yet to be tackled, and likely never will be is my fear.
But hey, we’ve been around this buoy several times in this very thread haven’t we, and I’m not going to fall out with people over it or let it spoil my participation on the forum, I will just interject with some reasoning now and again.
https://www.quora.com/How-does-burni...-64-lbs-of-CO2
Disclaimer: I haven’t researched to see if this is accurate.
Yes, like people are understanding that there’s a carbon footprint involved in manufacturing any vehicle, and also the generation of a kWh of electricity, so there is a large carbon footprint associated with a gallon of petrol or diesel (incl extraction, refining, storage, transport, burning etc), and it’s universally accepted as 2.6kg CO2 per litre.
I’m not demonising petrol or diesel, heck I still have one, but that’s just the numbers and I suppose why governments are trying to nibble at it.