GM going all electric by 2035

[brycejones]

Wouldn’t all these electric cars be an environmental disaster? You’re exchanging mining for Dino fuel with mining for battery compounds. Manufacturing of batteries at that scale causes mass pollution. You have to constantly charge these batteries and currently that’s done with polluting power plants. Then there’s the whole non-existent battery recycling program.

Holy shit. That's all. Holy shit.

 

[paperfist]

No. Because 1) EVs are more than twice as efficient as ICEs and those "polluting power plants" pollute significantly less than ICEs as well, and 2) battery technology has significant headroom to become more environmentally friendly, while ICE technology is almost completely matured in that regard.
I don't believe anyone would ever say that every house getting its electrical power from individual gas generators would be more efficient and environmental friendly than the power grid, and that's basically what you're implying here.

I was speaking more on the production of batteries being equal to that of gas and that once you flip automobiles to all electric you're going to need even more power production from dirty plants to keep them powered. So where's the upside?

 

[Brainonska511]

I was speaking more on the production of batteries being equal to that of gas and that once you flip automobiles to all electric you're going to need even more power production from dirty plants to keep them powered. So where's the upside?

Those dirtier fossil fuel power plants are still more efficient and less polluting than ICE autos. It will be a net reduction in emissions compared to now.

 

[K1052]

Those dirtier fossil fuel power plants are still more efficient and less polluting than ICE autos. It will be a net reduction in emissions compared to now.

indeed

 

[brycejones]

I was speaking more on the production of batteries being equal to that of gas and that once you flip automobiles to all electric you're going to need even more power production from dirty plants to keep them powered. So where's the upside?

You know you could look for how much carbon is created over the lifetime of an ICE vehicle vs an electric car. You can look at how energy production trends are changing in the US. The answers are out there.

 

[zinfamous]

Wouldn’t all these electric cars be an environmental disaster? You’re exchanging mining for Dino fuel with mining for battery compounds. Manufacturing of batteries at that scale causes mass pollution. You have to constantly charge these batteries and currently that’s done with polluting power plants. Then there’s the whole non-existent battery recycling program.

coal is at <20% of actual US consumption of power production, y/y, for the last 5 years, going strong.

Energy production is only getting cleaner, and the actual data that actually exists still puts all of the mining/manufacturing to produce and run electric cars as a net positive for both green production and energy consumption (so, overall, always greener than fossil fuels).

 

[[DHT]Osiris]

indeed

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I'd like to point out that I live in upstate NY, and along with that wonderful 231MPG equivalent, it's also around $0.08/kWh. Clean energy is cheap, cheap, cheap.

 

[K1052]

I'd like to point out that I live in upstate NY, and along with that wonderful 231MPG equivalent, it's also around $0.08/kWh. Clean energy is cheap, cheap, cheap.

The land of sweet cheap hydro power.