Quote:
Originally Posted by dominoM
Change is hard. Yep, the science shows an EV car with the materials mining and production has more environmental cost than an ICE car. What many of you seem to forget is the cost of drilling/transporting/producing oil has an environmental cost too, not to mention geo-political like mining. But it is the ICE vehicle fuel consumption that is by far the most polluting. I read the Argonne Nat'l lab technical documents (which is behind all the news buzz). They have been working on vehicle energy analysis for more than 20 years, and they know their stuff better than anyone else. Bottom line, about 10-20k miles the EV wins.
I care about the environment, for me and my kids, but I'm not a greenie tree hugger. I'm a car nut like you. Drooled over German cars since I was a kid. I love the sound of an inline-6. Remember the Rush song Red Barchetta? I think that song could be prophetic some day.
But I also realize EVs or some other technology is the way of the future. The electric motor energy conversion is hard to beat, plus simper mechanically. I'm concerned how all these big EV SUVs and Trucks with their massive battery packs are going to work with our immature charging infrastructure. But that is where the big demand and $$ is. So let's let the early adopters have at it. The world needs beta testers.
I have an order for an ICE M car and hope to enjoy it for a long time. But some day in the not too distant future I think the EV kinks will be worked out, and I'll have no problem buying an EV family hauler that we can easily take for road trips or whatever. I also think BMW (and Porshce, etc.) will figure out how to make insanely capable EV sports cars.
So my advice would be to enjoy what you have now. Don't cling too hard to the past. It's all gonna be ok.
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From an environmental point of view, even by excluding the environmental impact from mining materials for batteries or recycling old batteries, EV is still fossil dirty. 60% of energy generated in the US in 2021 came from burning fossil fuels. Having more EVs on the road will raise the electricity demand a lot higher, requiring even more fossil fuels. EVs just shift the pollution source from ICE to the power stations.
https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/...on%20in%202021.