Roger Horton is back with another Honest Ad, this one for electric vehicles, namely the fictitious Rogvolt. He starts off by lambasting the marketing tactics used to get you to purchase the latest in EV technology, no matter how expensive it is. But he raises several legitimate concerns about the EV industry, like the sourcing of the lithium batteries used in electric cars, and the massive amount of greenhouse gasses produced in manufacturing them. The truth is that new modes of transportation that don't use fossil fuels are crucial for our future, but the technology is going through a period of clunky transition. That transition wouldn't happen at all if there weren't powerful financial incentives for those trying to make electric transportation. The real solution is a world in which we didn't travel so many miles, but that doesn't seem likely, especially in America. (via Geeks Are Sexy)
Friday, December 08, 2023
If Electric Cars Were Honest
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Actually most of these claims have been debunked. Modern EV manufacturing is often more efficient than ICE manufacturing (so it doesn't use much, if any, more power to build). More than half of EVs use Lithium iron phosphate batteries (no manganese or cobalt). There are not same ethical concerns for lithium Unlike gasoline, no only doesn't pollute, but it is not consumed--it is all still available at the end of a battery's life and can be recycled over and over again. Unlike oil for gasoline, which needs to be drilled forever, you only need to mine enough for car batteries once, then you are done.
Traditionally, more subsidies and incentives go to the oil industry than to the EV industry (estimated to be in the trillions), although it is doesn't go to consumers directly.
It is moot in any case, because at the rate battery prices are decreasing, within a few years the cheapest EVs with decent range and fast charging will
be cheaper than the cheapest ICE cars. Jay Leno was right when he told someone "by the time your daughter can drive, they'll only be selling EV cars."
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