this post was submitted on 28 Dec 2023
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City Life
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Myths? Electric cars are not good for the environment, period, as their manufacture has huge impacts everywhere especially with lithium batteries.
The important thing that the conservatives miss is that all individual car transportation is horrible for the environment. Only public transit cuts emissions massively. That's why electric cars exist. They're not built to save the environment. They are built to save the car as a concept and means of individual transit. To keep consumers buying more cars and car parts rather than building and investing in public transportation.
What I find infuriating is how electric car makers lie in their advertising about how eco-friendly their vehicles are. They're not, and they know they're not, and they lie anyways because some people believe it.
I don't think that really holds up in a realistic comparison. BEVs are better for the environment. Just not as good as walking, cycling, and mass transit. All of these supply chain analysis commentary about BEVs fail to do an apples to apples lifetime comparison with ICE vehicles. Battery technology and battery recycling will continue to advance as BEV become more mainstream. Battery technology also has significant wider impacts and implications that aren't strictly limited to vehicles.
The oil industry alone causes tremendous environmental devastation simply extracting oil - not to mention the transportation problem. Large scale raw material extraction is never pretty no matter what the final product is.
EVs cut lifecycle emissions to about 45%. [UCS][ANL][MIT][IEA]
Public transit cuts lifecycle emissions to... about 45%. [IEA][AFDC][USDOT]
Neither is a magic bullet. Both get their asses kicked by bicyles. Both get better with increased passengers per vehicle. Both can be fueled with renewable energy for additional reduction. Both can be manufactured with renewable energy for additional reduction. Both take surprisingly equivalent amounts of steel, aluminum, and glass.
Public transit offers unique advantages from an urbanist perspective and the liveability of cities, but that's objectively different from emissions reduction.
The issue in the US is the frankly terrible mass transit system in a lot of smaller towns and rural areas. There is no way we are going to get that infrastructure anytime soon (not saying we shouldn't get it underway, it will just take a while), so getting folks to EVs is a good interim. Plus there will always be people that need cars for specific jobs (my partner does home health as an example). EVs are certainly better for the environment than gas cars, even when you take into account the mining necessary. I'd rather have some progress than an all or nothing approach.
https://www.epa.gov/greenvehicles/electric-vehicle-myths