Live data from Hacker News

All the arguments against EVs are wrong

noahpinion.blog

41–50 of 125 posts

Re: All the arguments against EVs are wrong

#41
post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why does the UK call gasoline petroleum? Every context I've ever heard it used in, including technical, petroleum is crude oil, which DEFINITELY doesn't go in your car.

We don't - we call it petrol, because it's similar to petroleum but isn't it. Tbh 'gas' is the weird one, it's a liquid.

gasoline

Re: All the arguments against EVs are wrong

#43

They didn't touch upon tire/rubber particulate pollution being worse for EVs.

Is there any evidence that this is an actual issue? My understanding was that the particulates from tires are pretty big and don’t really go airborne

When Driving, Tires Emit Pollution. and EVs Make the Problem Worse

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32689058

Re: All the arguments against EVs are wrong

#44
post #24

For warm climates in urban areas, I can agree, but here are things never fully covered anywhere: 1. Heat in the winter, this will reduce you range, some just a little, but in places like Minnesota in Feb, a lot. 2. Stuck in traffic. If you are stuck in grid lock, that will cut in range, there have been cases were gridlock could last hours. Granted maybe EV stop power usage in this case. But under very hot or cold wea…

> 2. Stuck in traffic. If you are stuck in grid lock, that will cut in range, there have been cases were gridlock could last hours. Granted maybe EV stop power usage in this case. But under very hot or cold weather, you will lose AC and Heat. So if you have health concerns, TFB.

EV energy usage is linear with speed. The slower you go, the longer the range.

This part doesn't make any sense unless you have something specific to share.

Re: All the arguments against EVs are wrong

#45

Lets say EV cut co2 emissions by factor of 100x for each km traveled. Lets say number of cars in total follows exponential progression, 5% growth per year. It follows that after 100 years due to growth co2 gets back to original level. (Log100/log1.05=94) EVs are required bandaid, but degrowth will come eventually. (Possibly due to climate change supply will decrease and so will consumption)

Why would the number of cars grow by 5% for the next 100 years? Currently there are 1.4 billion cars. Projections say the world population will peak at 10 billion. Even if everyone would have a car, that’s only a sevenfold increase.

Re: All the arguments against EVs are wrong

#46

Yeah, this entire article has a single mention of "charging infrastructure", and even that's a passing reference. This doesn't address all the arguments against an EV. The fact of the matter is, if I don't have a Tesla and rent my apartment, I won't be able to reliably charge this vehicle. Even for someone with a house, long trips face unreliable charging infrastructure. It's gonna take a few more years

Conversely, if I own my home, with an attached garage, and especially if my spouse has a gasoline vehicle we would use for long trips, then charging infrastructure and range over ~80 miles are largely irrelevant to me. Being a perfect vehicle for 2/3rds of the population is good enough for now.

Agreed. EVs are a great second commuter vehicle for someone with a garage.

Re: All the arguments against EVs are wrong

#47
post #24

For warm climates in urban areas, I can agree, but here are things never fully covered anywhere: 1. Heat in the winter, this will reduce you range, some just a little, but in places like Minnesota in Feb, a lot. 2. Stuck in traffic. If you are stuck in grid lock, that will cut in range, there have been cases were gridlock could last hours. Granted maybe EV stop power usage in this case. But under very hot or cold wea…

> 1. Heat in the winter, this will reduce you range, some just a little, but in places like Minnesota in Feb, a lot. Better inform the folks in Norway (75% EV share), Iceland (45%), and Sweden (32%): * https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2021/02/electric-vehicles-eur... * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climate_of_the_Nordic_countrie... > 2. Stuck in traffic. If you are stuck in grid lock, that will cut in range, there have…

>Better inform the folks in Norway (75% EV share), Iceland (45%), and Sweden (32%):

I was waiting for this, those countries do not get the winter people in Minnesota and Montana get. Far less sever on average. A quick search:

Is Minnesota or Norway colder? What is this? FARGO — Oslo, the capital of Norway, is located at 60 degrees north. Fargo and Duluth are closer to 47 degrees north. Winter weather in the Dakotas and Minnesota, however, is much colder than in Oslo.

and

They are both northern places although Minnesota has a climate that is much more severe than that of most of Sweden, particularly in the winter months although Sweden is much further north. Stockholm is warmer in the wintertime and cooler during the summer months.

Re: All the arguments against EVs are wrong

#48
post #24

For warm climates in urban areas, I can agree, but here are things never fully covered anywhere: 1. Heat in the winter, this will reduce you range, some just a little, but in places like Minnesota in Feb, a lot. 2. Stuck in traffic. If you are stuck in grid lock, that will cut in range, there have been cases were gridlock could last hours. Granted maybe EV stop power usage in this case. But under very hot or cold wea…

Maintaining the temp inside the car is going to pull at most a couple kw. So 2 hours with the heat or AC on even in a very severe climate is going to consume If you got stuck overnight due to snow on a mountain pass maybe that would be an issue. But in that case you have the same issues with an ICE car and all the carbon monoxide that comes along with it. I’d rather be stuck in an EV where I can at least run the seat warmers and climate on a low setting.

Re: All the arguments against EVs are wrong

#49
How about on this one:

Gasoline has a higher energy density than lithium ion batteries meaning that you will have less weight to carry around giving you a more nimble vehicle. It also lets you accelerate faster from the same engine torque since you have to accelerate less mass. With electric vehicles you have to carry a battery for you entire range and it is not easy to swap out.

Re: All the arguments against EVs are wrong

#50
post #9

I've been going in range-anxiety circles with my dad for over 10 years. He insists he needs a car that can take him hundreds of miles into the wilderness for camping. I ask whether he's ever done that. He says no, but he intends to. He's 84. EV manufacturers should offer the 500-mile-range vehicle, but as an option. Pay $X for a car with 250 miles range, and an extra $20,000 for another 250 miles range. Most people w…

>drive 8 hours without a pee break is and always will be aspirational.

Which is why I think that once you get to a range of around 300 miles, the most important metric shifts from range to charge rate. None of us should probably be driving for more than 4 hours straight. But we also don't need those breaks to be an hour long. If we can get to the point in which 10-15 minutes of charging gives us 4+ hours of driving, then I think most serious complaints about range anxiety disappear.

Post reply on HN