The problem with electric cars is that they are cars. Cities have to have public transport to not become shitholes with clogged roads everywhere.
I support electric vehicles.
But electric cars are not a realistic solution. Cars have a use case, but bikes and public transit can cover the VAST majority of people’s real transportation needs if you designed the system properly. Transportation needs to become more rationalized and efficient which means it needs to be done at scale and with an eye to moving the public, not carrying bourgeois suits around on their whims. Electric cars give people the illusion that we can solve the problem of how much waste is built into our system of transit without needing any political will or reorganization.
I’m so burnt out on driving. I hate car-focused infrastructure/transportation. I drive 35+ min to work and 40+ min home. Switching to an electric vehicle (which I can’t afford) doesn’t really help me improve the environment.
The carbon cost of creating electric vehicles is much higher than using a used gas or hybrid car. Slave labor is often used to extract lithium for batteries.
We need public transportation, walkable cities, alternative modes of travelling to work and other places.
If we lived in a socialist society where a labor pool of unemployed people isn’t required to threaten overworked, underpaid, heavily exploited workers, people wouldn’t be desperately looking for work, even if it means they would have to drive 1-2 hours plus in a deindustrialized, hyper-imperialist hellhole. We could allocate workers to work based on proximity and skillset. Win-win for workers, efficiency, and the environment.
Working less hours and more remote work would have a massive impact on the environment, as we have seen during COVID.
I plan to get motorcycle lessons to get a license and buy an electric motorcycle for economical reasons to survive in a capitalist society. My goal is to avoid any “smart” tech where I am forced to use a proprietary phone app with the vehicle (which is unfortunately very common). Funny enough, electric motorcycles don’t count for a tax deduction in the US, but only a select few (mostly) large heavy SUV electric vehicles which are magnitudes worse for the environment. Electric cars just help big car industries, the government doesn’t give a crap about humanity burning alive on this planet.
I’m also nervous about the surveillance tech that has been mandated by the US to be added to vehicles in the coming years (for example (I’m not against anti-drunk and distracted driving prevention tech in vehicles in a socialist society, though, but I believe it wouldn’t be a priority or possibly even necessary if we utilized other measures to prevent traffic deaths magnified by car-focused infrastructure)) as I predict it will be abused by police and the ruling class.
A Chinese EV would potentially be more affordable for me, but of course the US is not going to allow their citizens access to cheaper EVs that will compete against other car manufacturers here, and I don’t believe I have to mention the Cold War 2.0 we are in with China.
They are still cars and their resources come from incredibly bad working conditions often in super exploited countries. Norway is a leader in EV drivers with a high percentage of the population driving an EV. Meanwhile one of the biggest exports products in Norway is oil which is subsidising the high standard of living over their. Their vehicles get made by child slaves in Congo.
It is an okay solution to a life threatening issue. If we really care about making a change we would make public transport better, cities walkable, etc.
Evs are awesome and way better than gas cars in 99% of cases. Then a greener grid will makes evs even better over time…
But…
It would take more lithium than is known to exist in all of our current mines to make the batteries for the cars in JUST north america (reference needed, sorry can’t remember where I heard this).
Maybe if we had multiple technologies, started getting lithium from the ocean (expensive and may have bad side effects), and used hydrogen for all forms of transportation that it could be used for, because with cars it’s pretty unrealistic, but with planes, trains, and trucks its more realistic, AND we kept our range expectations low, and and and… then maybe we could get solid EV penetraion worldwide.
But nah, the real answer is we need to rebuild our cities to have good public transit, put more batteries in bikes and scooters so less overall batteties are needed to move a person (including no batteries for bikes and scooters sometimes too haha), and all that energy can go toward running high speed rail and city streetcars (streetcars on steel rails, because its more efficient and lasts longer and is cheaper to maintain than roads).
Sorry, long answer haha. Btw i was into evs before tesla made it cool, so i’ve just been thinking about this for a long time haha.
Sodium batteries are rolling out, they’re not as energy dense but use common materials instead of needing to exploit the global south. They’re also way safer; you can puncture the battery and it won’t explode, which is a big deal because it makes transporting them much easier.
The best part is that you can roll them out using existing LiPo infrastructure, just substitute out the lithium and slightly modify a few steps.
Right! I knew I was forgetting something important! Sodium batteries have some potential to help, including as LiPo/Sodium hybrids.
I guess Australia is technically the global south…
I mean lets be real here.
Completely unviable in the absence of a widespread and reliable charging infrastructure, which in the US exists only for Tesla, which are notoriously shitty and dangerous cars.
If we really wanted to boost adoption in the us the usg would create a national standard using Tesla’s dc fast charging as a template and build a shitload of nationalized charging infrastructure with an investment on par with the interstate highway program
Of course our gov is morally bankrupt and incapable of doing anything good, so I am not holding my breath.
Tesla’s fast charging is already the new standard for charging in NA. However, it takes some time for the other manufacturers to start using it.
Jackshit at offsetting carbon due to car addiction
Until my state has a cheap and quick train/bus system that can take you to state/national parks, I need a car. My next car will likely be a prius because I doubt the promised big expansion of charging stations will actually happen
If you don’t go on road trips, you don’t regularly drive long distances, and your city lacks decent public transit, cheap EVs are great relative to your other options
Streetcars were a cool idea
Based if collective and public, base if only individual.
E-bikes are awesome, strongly recommend them.
Same as everybody else here, I think. If you live in the current world, that sucks, where you need a car to live, and you have the means, yeah, get an EV.
In a world that’s good? Uhh, I mean I’d rent one a couple times a year when I really need one. In a walkable community, with free and comprehensive public transportation, there would be no point in owning a car at all. It would be like trucks now: yeah, they’re useful on occasion, but why own one?
And obviously they’re extremely good in situations where a small vehicle is actually necessary. Plumber, locksmith, electrician? Yeah, you need an electric van to go help out folks at their homes.
At the time of writing this comment there’s 2 out of the current 9 comments that even understand EVs as anything more but cars so takIng the question at face value: dire!
Taking the quesiton as per cars only: Guess what, also dire, for the same reason!
They’re better than nothing but not by much. Overhead wires and trams/trains are a much better choice for urban areas.
