Curious about people’s thoughts on future of Electric Vehicles (EV) tech & its benefits to society. Putting stock market fluctuations/valuations completely aside. Before getting cynical, I hope we find a solution to curb the causation of global warming + reliance on non-renewable energy. I do believe it is an existential threat. That being said, does EV significantly push us in the right direction? If we shift from ICE vehicles to EV, this only helps if the electricity is “clean”. From what I gather, solar is not very efficient and in some cases is worse (factoring in the toxic elements required for it— including carbon/graphite). Similar for wind turbines which don’t have a long lifespan— need replacing every ~ 10 years— so lots of steel, fiberglass, plastics needed. I feel like leaning into nuclear is the “cleanest” option, but has societal fear & other downsides (pollution from disposal). Also, EV battery technology currently relies on lithium which is not plentiful enough to create enough batteries for all cars. Also, lithium would be a pollutant as barriers likely need to be replaced within the lifespan of a car (20 years). Obviously— hopefully— the battery tech could evolve into something less scarce & toxic. Lastly, seems like most people getting EVs right now are ditching their perfectly good cars less than 10 years old to buy a new car, which may be doing more harm than help. People who have 20+ year old cars that are ripe for replacement aren’t really jumping into the EV market. A prime candidate would be those old post office cars — especially considering the start & stop benefits with EV. Would majority of vehicles (>75%) switching to hybrid be more beneficial than few (<20%) switching to full EV? My take is that the best strategy is minimizing traveling all together. Societal changes— in favor of more remote work/socializing/travel. This has its own issues (health). But I feel like putting effort toward tech (i.e. VR) which reduces the friction of remote socializing/travel/work would have more benefit since it could reduce the need for any energy. Thoughts? #tech #auto
There’s no free lunch. In other words, there always a price you pay. No matter what clean energy source we come up with, there will be a downside. We just don’t focus enough. Ex. Nuclear power is clean - downside is one simple mistake/error will wipe us out and the waste. High risk high reward.
Agree with you on some portions. You need to compare energy sources on a relative basis. A solar panel for example is rated to last for X kwhr over it's lifetime. Now compare that to the environmental impact for other sources to obtain the same amount of energy. From what I know the impact of solar panel is vastly lower than fossil fuels(exploration,drilling, transport, risk of spills, finally co2 emissions). Solar tech may improve dramatically with increased adoption. I think nuclear is good too. Switching to hybrid comes at an increased manufacturing and maintenance cost. The answer needs accurate modeling and number crunching. Reducing consumption is the best, but not many like to actively reduce consumption. Since putting efforts to streamline remote work and mobility tech is not mutually exclusive, they can both happen in parallel.