Unless the electricity that charges the batteries comes from nuclear power, my answer is yes, if you're claiming to they're "green". They're fun novelties, and my teaching neighbor who has a Tesla--I love riding in it, it's fun. It may, or may not, be cheaper than a vehicle with an internal combustion engine, I don't know. But given how electricity is produced right now, it's just as likely that such vehicles are powered by unicorn farts as by "zero emissions" technology:
I’ve never been a big fan of electric vehicles. Oh, I know everybody says they are “the future” but studies now show the yearly cost of operating an EV versus a gas-powered cars is roughly the same. The people I know who drive EVs say they love them. A huge battery plant is opening in Chattanooga and the auto industry is tripped over itself in a quest to build the biggest and brightest but, nope, not me … I am a gasoline guy.
Earlier this week I received a compelling, make-sense story about battery power and normally I would not read such a thing. This time I am glad I did because it makes “going green” sound more like a sham.
Read the story he received here.
5 comments:
The mining, usually in areas of the world that don't care very much about environmental degradation or workers' rights, that has to happen to electrify our auto fleet is, itself, prohibitive and insane.
I agree with you about electric cars and nuclear power.
From a pollution control stand point it is much easier to control 1 large plant than many small sources. Besides, no one is going to steal a large tower filled with limestone as compared to catalytic converters.
The biggest value of electric vehicles is that they permit many people to feel good and virtuous.
I have two Teslas; good cars in most ways, but I do not GAF about being “green”; I care about being able to (a) save about 70% in fuel costs, (b) save several thousand dollars over the next five years in scheduled maintenance costs, and (c) have carpool lane stickers for at least the next 3.5 years. I do miss my manual transmission though.
Emissions sell me. The school bus idling fumes were making me sick when I volunteered, as the school building isn't equipped to not suck the fumes in. Busses here idle 10-20 minutes each morning and afternoon due to need to heat the interior while people are on board, waiting for students to load/unload. I look forward to my Governor making good on her promise to switch the busses over to cleaner tech, whether that's electric or hybrid. Who knows, maybe one day I won't need as a high a quality filter in my home a/c unit...maybe she'll include all the vehicles the group homes down the road are using.
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