It's good to see some discussion on the matter, however it is likely be tossed like "fossil-fuel propaganda" by many.
Are Electric Vehicles Better or Worse for the Environment?
31–36 of 36 posts
Re: Are Electric Vehicles Better or Worse for the Environment?
#32Earlier quoted context omitted.
As someone whos lived in Dublin and a more car centric city like Barcelona the air in Dublin is hundreds of times cleaner than the air in Barcelona.
Barcelona is a car-centric city? I guess it’s all relative.
Compared to Dublin city centre it is. Everyone complains about driving in Barna but there are massive steets with multilane traffic all over exiample. The pollution is evident everywhere.
Dublin has tiny roads with two lanes of traffic and going to the centre in a car is an exercise in futility.
Re: Are Electric Vehicles Better or Worse for the Environment?
#33What I miss the most in the EV vs ICE talk is road noise levels. EV's are not necessarily less noisy at city speeds, unlike what seems logical, they are louder at above ~30km/h. Here's an example (PDF warning): https://www.vejdirektoratet.dk/sites/default/files/publicati...
There’s so much variability there though. The biggest factor there are the weight & the tires. Basically tire noise will be the same on the same weight car with the same type of tires, EV or ICE. It’s just most EVs at this point are larger or heavier.
Noise when accelerating is also very important in a city, not just noise at constant speed.
EVs do much better here.
Re: Are Electric Vehicles Better or Worse for the Environment?
#34A few things that should probably be taken into a account as we move to an electrified future is 1) what is the carbon footprint of an EV vehicle when we are recycling batteries 2) what is the carbon footprint of an EV as we increase efficiency/range 3) what is the carbon footprint of an ICE as they increase range The reason this might be interesting is that EVs, I believe, are still in their infancy and are likely t…
Most cars are still sold without turbocharging. We are nowhere near maximizing combustion vehicles. That 100hp/l is somewhat in contradiction to your arguement. The wide array of technologies for injection and burn efficiency are still largely unadopted as well. The replacement costs of batteries at ~5-8 years of ownership are always conviently absent from the comparison between EV and combustion. No surprise. EV are…
I'm trying NOT to make an argument, but to be even handed, and what do we need to understand about how these technologies will change.
I think in Australia it is difficult to find a non-turbo charged car. I was amazed when I moved here that everything is a 2l turbo 4 cylinder.
EVs aren't new, but there hasn't been considerable investment over the last 100 years. All the investment has happened in the last 20. Battery technology wasn't good enough until recently to justify investment in more efficient electric motors, etc.
Similarly, I think the improvements we are seeing in combustion engines is that they haven't had competition for 100 years, aside from one car company vs another. Now they have something that completely changes the game, and it is amazing to see how well that industry has responded from a performance standpoint.
Re: Are Electric Vehicles Better or Worse for the Environment?
#35What I miss the most in the EV vs ICE talk is road noise levels. EV's are not necessarily less noisy at city speeds, unlike what seems logical, they are louder at above ~30km/h. Here's an example (PDF warning): https://www.vejdirektoratet.dk/sites/default/files/publicati...
There’s so much variability there though. The biggest factor there are the weight & the tires. Basically tire noise will be the same on the same weight car with the same type of tires, EV or ICE. It’s just most EVs at this point are larger or heavier.
Yes, the tires are a problem but as long as that doesn't get fixed EVs are still louder at city speeds. I have nothing against EVs or hybrids (I drive one myself) but it is a concern and really should be fixed.
Re: Are Electric Vehicles Better or Worse for the Environment?
#36Earlier quoted context omitted.
There’s so much variability there though. The biggest factor there are the weight & the tires. Basically tire noise will be the same on the same weight car with the same type of tires, EV or ICE. It’s just most EVs at this point are larger or heavier.
Noise when accelerating is also very important in a city, not just noise at constant speed. EVs do much better here.
It is also in the linked report.