Adoption of EVs tied to real-world reductions in air pollution: study • Hacker News Board

Re: Adoption of EVs tied to real-world reductions in air pollution: study

#261

Post by DyslexicAtheist » Sun, Jan 25, 2026, 8:36 AM UTC

princevegeta89 wrote: post #3

No surprises. No matter how we look at it, EVs are much friendlier and safer to the environment. Some people argue the source of electricty can be contested against because that involves fossil fuel burning again, but in today's world we are rapidly moving away from it and towards nuclear/hydel/wind methods for generating power. I hope ICE cars completely become a thing of the past in the next couple of decades to co…

> I hope ICE cars completely become a thing of the past in the next couple of decades to come.

for this to happen the EVs depreciation needs to drastically improve compared to ICE. I don't see this. On top of this EVs tend to push ideas from Software/Tech companies, such as recurring revenues (because the underlying technology lends itself to it better).

Personally I'm unsure that this will be accepted by all consumers as much as is needed. After all the automotive marketing has since Ford insisted that driving was about "freedom". So some pivot needs to happen in the messaging. Suppose decades is a lot of time to change it. Personally I think EVs are nonsense, and a better utopia would be making sure public transport is abundant, high-quality and free.

Re: Adoption of EVs tied to real-world reductions in air pollution: study

#262

Post by high_na_euv » Sun, Jan 25, 2026, 8:37 AM UTC

littlecranky67 wrote: post #258

I love EVs, ever since I test drove an BMW i3 in 2012. Quiet with high drag - of course this is the future. BUT I don't think switching to EVs will help reduce CO2 in any way - not even if all the EVs are charged using 100% solar/wind. The narrative usually is "I get an EV instead of an ICE, charge it with regenerative energy and have 0 emissions, thus not burning oil and saving on CO2". But that is not how a globali…

Which businesses will become viable that will consume oil at this scale?

Re: Adoption of EVs tied to real-world reductions in air pollution: study

#263

Post by lukan » Sun, Jan 25, 2026, 8:38 AM UTC

memen wrote: post #255

lukan wrote: post #238

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, any cyclist daring to drive in winter can easily confirm this. It is so disgusting (and unhealthy) having to stand behind a ICE car on a traffic light and being behind a electric car is such a relief, that thoughts of wishing to ban all ICE cars as soon as possible (at least in cities) come automatically.

Modern ICE cars have auto start/stop systems, so on a traffic light it has as much exhaust as an EV.

Also when the temperature is really low? Does not seem like it.

Also at some point they will start their engines again. Guess who will inhale that?

Re: Adoption of EVs tied to real-world reductions in air pollution: study

#264

Post by t_tsonev » Sun, Jan 25, 2026, 8:38 AM UTC

littlecranky67 wrote: post #258

I love EVs, ever since I test drove an BMW i3 in 2012. Quiet with high drag - of course this is the future. BUT I don't think switching to EVs will help reduce CO2 in any way - not even if all the EVs are charged using 100% solar/wind. The narrative usually is "I get an EV instead of an ICE, charge it with regenerative energy and have 0 emissions, thus not burning oil and saving on CO2". But that is not how a globali…

What you're missing here is that oil production and processing has huge fixed costs. Producers can't just pump out infinite oil at zero cost. The economies of scale break down and fuels become more expensive as demand drops.

Re: Adoption of EVs tied to real-world reductions in air pollution: study

#265

Post by system2 » Sun, Jan 25, 2026, 8:39 AM UTC

We have a huge power source called the sun, but our greed is not letting us use it fully.

Re: Adoption of EVs tied to real-world reductions in air pollution: study

#266

Post by littlecranky67 » Sun, Jan 25, 2026, 8:40 AM UTC

high_na_euv wrote: post #262

littlecranky67 wrote: post #258

I love EVs, ever since I test drove an BMW i3 in 2012. Quiet with high drag - of course this is the future. BUT I don't think switching to EVs will help reduce CO2 in any way - not even if all the EVs are charged using 100% solar/wind. The narrative usually is "I get an EV instead of an ICE, charge it with regenerative energy and have 0 emissions, thus not burning oil and saving on CO2". But that is not how a globali…

Which businesses will become viable that will consume oil at this scale?

Aviation industry comes to mind. The price of an airline ticket is mostly the fuel. With cheaper airline tickets, more people can afford to fly (especially in developing countries). And also, poor countries suddenly are able to get oil cheaper and built their industries just as we did 50 years ago.

Re: Adoption of EVs tied to real-world reductions in air pollution: study

#267

Post by kalaksi » Sun, Jan 25, 2026, 8:40 AM UTC

dgacmu wrote: post #110

lagniappe wrote: post #97

I want the future to focus more on the brakes and tire dust, and the increase in cancers and other problems by people who live near busy roads or highways experience. Nobody studies this, and combustion or battery, everyone is affected by it. Even playgrounds are filled with shredded tires, which borders on biohazard.

It gets studied. EVs are often heavier, which is worse for tire wear, but use regenerative braking, which is better for brake dust. Overall, EVs are likely a net win on the combination of these two things, and a big win on exhaust emissions, but it would be nice if we could shift to lighter and smaller vehicles and increase the mix of non-cars such as e-bikes and mass transit. Source: https://www.eiturbanmobility.eu/…

ICE cars also require large and heavy trucks to transport fuel around constantly.

Re: Adoption of EVs tied to real-world reductions in air pollution: study

#268

Post by consp » Sun, Jan 25, 2026, 8:41 AM UTC

londons_explore wrote: post #253

m463 wrote: post #159

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Speaking of smells.... One good thing about driving an EV is that weird oil or hot coolant smells are from someone else's car (and not a problem with your car) (although yes technically many EVs have coolant loops)

As the fleet of EV's age, I'm sure we'll see equivalents... "The high voltage wires were just dragging on the street sparking, presumably with all the safety features disabled" "They were driving with a 10 gallon coolant tank on the roof, presumably because the coolant loop had a big leak and needed continuous topping up".

Are those even user serviceable? So, it won't stop everyone but it will stop most of them.

Re: Adoption of EVs tied to real-world reductions in air pollution: study

#269

Post by ako » Sun, Jan 25, 2026, 8:41 AM UTC

dyauspitr wrote: post #163

neogodless wrote: post #162

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The current generation of Lucid, BMW, etc. are 400+ mile vehicles. You think we need 800-1200 mile batteries? As for charge speed, the twice a year someone needs more than 400 miles isn't as significant in real world EV usage... I plug in on a dopey 1.3kW (~115V, ~12A) outlet and my car is at 80% charge in the morning. For commuting, a 5pm to 7am charge is ample for most people living ordinary lives.

Based on my firsthand experience, cold weather (big one) or hauling/towing significantly reduces that 400 mile range (sometimes by 50%+). Yes to comfortably get 400-500 miles per charge in the worst case scenario it needs to be atleast 2x.

I recently did a day trip of 800km while it was freezing and snowing. Yes the range is impacted, so i never did more than 200km in one go. Then a quick 15 minutes break to recharge and continue. It takes a bit longer, but not bad enough to go back to ICE cars. EV drives so much nicer.

Re: Adoption of EVs tied to real-world reductions in air pollution: study

#270

Post by muyuu » Sun, Jan 25, 2026, 8:43 AM UTC

littlecranky67 wrote: post #258

I love EVs, ever since I test drove an BMW i3 in 2012. Quiet with high drag - of course this is the future. BUT I don't think switching to EVs will help reduce CO2 in any way - not even if all the EVs are charged using 100% solar/wind. The narrative usually is "I get an EV instead of an ICE, charge it with regenerative energy and have 0 emissions, thus not burning oil and saving on CO2". But that is not how a globali…

Cars do zero Carbon capture, Utilisation and Storage (CCUS). The potential is there to emit negligible CO2 when it's only energy-intensive large industry doing the fuel burning.

Having said that, the path being taken in some countries to remove ICE is simply pushing large swathes of the population out of the car market. I don't support that, although I'm sure there are many people who do.