EV Curious?

Show Notes

The shipping industry has set a course to phase out its greenhouse gas emissions.

The deal came during a meeting of the International Maritime Organization following the planet's hottest day on record.

Targets call for a 20% reduction of greenhouse gases by 2030, a 70% reduction by 2040, and net zero emissions by 2050.

These targets are nonbinding and there is still a need for accelerated action in the industry.

Sources

Why buy electric?

in the US, cars and trucks account for ~23% of greenhouse gas emissions, with 17% owing to light duty vehicles
Globally, cars and trucks account for ~12% of ghg emissions

EV myths

Myth: EV's are just as bad emission-wise as internal-combustion engine or ICE vehicles are.

Indirect Emissions (mining, drilling, shipping, manufacturing) vs. Direct Emissions (released while driving)
EV's have only indirect emissions, while internal combustion engine vehicles have both
Even with indirect emissions included, ICE vehicles are far dirtier than EV's

Myth: EV’s rely on coal/fossil-fuel similarly to ICE vehicles.

Myth: Batteries are terrible for environment.

Mining impact not the same as climate change
Current move to lithium iron phosphate batteries will improve environmental/social impact (no nickel or colbalt)
Recycling is possible => eventually, no more raw materials needed

EV buyer considerations

Batteries - most manufacturers are in the process of moving to what's called lithium iron phosphate

Tesla has already adopted them, GM, Ford, VW and Rivian are all in the process of moving to them
They can handle more charge cycles over the lifetime of the vehicle
They loose less of their capacity over time

Tax incentives - there's lots of them. Do your homework

Efficiency - MPGe (miles per gallon of gas equivalent)

Larger vehicles are not only less efficient, but building them requires far more resources from the battery to the body
Sample MPGe ratings = Tesla Model 3 – 132 (very good), Ford Lightning 70 (fair/poor), Hummer 47 (the worst)

Other

Range - winter driving will reduce range as well as uphill driving and headwinds (just like a regular car)
Avoid Nissan Leaf - its batteries are air-cooled which leads to poor fast charging performance
Non-Tesla cars from GM, Ford and Mercedes will soon be able to use portions of Tesla's super charging network
Heat pump heaters are best - resistive element heaters draw a lot of battery power in winter

Inductive charging is coming - Tesla says their cars will be equipped as early as 2025

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‍Sources