I find this ignorance really frustrating that people believe purchasing an electric car is somehow environmentally neutral. People should be educated on the environmental toll of EV production, lithium mining, tire pollution etc.
I find this ignorance really frustrating that people believe purchasing an electric car is somehow environmentally neutral. People should be educated on the environmental toll of EV production, lithium mining, tire pollution etc.
While no car is far, far better than any car environmentally, an EV is far better than an ICE vehicle. Let’s not piss on incremental improvements shall we?
I’m all for incremental improvements but these people that laud themselves as environmental heros for owning an electric car need to understand what happens behind the curtain before they receive their electric car, and after the battery is replaced.
Is there any comprehensive proof that EV production is cleaner than ICE production?
First, assuming battery replacement is required in the life of the vehicle doesn’t hold up against real life. It’s mostly happened due to battery design issues (LEAF, Bolt), not batteries dying before the rest of the vehicle.
Second, nobody is saying EV manufacturing is cleaner, but the operation of an EV is far cleaner than an ICE.
Yes, people post lifecycle studies on Lemmy and Reddit once in a while. In general, EVs are a bit worse to manufacture but you make up for it after a couple years typical driving, then it’s gravy for the life of the vehicle
One where some of the numbers stuck with me looked at that trade off by the average power generation per US state. Quite a few had a trade off under 2 years. However for Wyoming and West Virginia that still heavily use coal, the trade off can be as long as 14 years. Don’t buy an EV where coal is still king, but they’re a nice step for the environment in the rest of the US and anywhere power generation is relatively clean.
Also remember they get better for the environment over time, as power generation is cleaned up