Anyone buying EVs because they believe that anthropogenic climate change is some kind of real problem, are kidding themselves.
Fail.
How can we take you seriously when you open with a silly statement like that?
First of all, the Lithium ion batteries in Teslas and other EVs are highly toxic. They're known to produce CO gas, and Lithium mining is even more toxic, consumes and pollutes more water, and is more environmentally damaging than fracking.
More fail. The lead in Pb batteries is even more toxic - and there is a lot more of it. Mining of most metals is also highly toxic, as is the extraction and use of coal and other fossil fuels.
However EV batteries don't routinely leak and vent toxic fumes in 'normal' operation like fossil fuels do. Every oil well, tanker, train, pipeline, storage tank, gas station and motor vehicle is a potential and often
real source of contamination and/or direct exposure to toxic and carcinogenic fossil fuel products.
But of course you
ignore the environmental impact of fossil fuels, because that would weaken your argument.
Second, only a tiny fraction of Li+ batteries are recycled, something on the order of 2-3%.
A worthless statistic. Firstly, almost 50% of the Lithium used in batteries (which is only 40% of total Lithium consumption) goes into batteries used in consumer devices. That most of them are thrown away is not surprising, but this says
nothing about electric car battery recycling rates. The vast majority of EV batteries are
still in the car, and batteries taken out of junked cars are routinely 'recycled' into other vehicles. Most EV manufacturers warranty the battery for 8 years, and few cars are older than that. I own a first generation 2011 Leaf, which (like most of that age) still has the original battery. I expect to get several more years out of it, but when I eventually need to replace it you can bet the old one will be fully recycled.
But of course you knew this (or should have). You happily lump electric car batteries in with the millions of batteries used in portable electronic gadgets that are thrown away every day because it suits your agenda.
So they decompose in landfills where they pollute the ground water.
Just like everything put into landfills. But you won't find many electric car batteries there.
Third, and most importantly, 80% of the power grid (in the United States, at least) is fueled by non-renewable energy sources (coal, petroleum, natural gas, nuclear, etc...) So all of the virtue signaling EV drivers who like to think highly of themselves for not burning gasoline in an ICE, are still charging their EV batteries from a grid whereby only 20% is powered by renewable energy.
Even more
FAIL!
Even if 80% of all electricity generated was from fossil fuels, electric cars could still reduce carbon emissions due their much higher efficiency than IC engines. Many 'virtue signaling' EV drivers are either choosing cleaner electricity sources (which incentivizes producers to install more renewable capacity) or are producing it themselves. Since the US does not have a national grid that combines the output of all sources, where individuals get their power from
does matter. And the proportion of 'green' power is increasing, so even if your source is not cleaner
now, it probably will be.
And of course (in case you thought you could get away with slipping it into the same category as fossil fuels) nuclear
also qualifies for 'virtue signaling'.
Are Electric Vehicles Really Better for the Climate? Yes.
To compare the climate-changing emissions from electric vehicles to gasoline-powered cars, we analyzed all the emissions from fueling and driving both types of vehicles. For a gasoline car, that means looking at emissions from extracting crude oil from the ground, moving the oil to a refinery, making gasoline and transporting gasoline to filling stations, in addition to combustion emissions from the tailpipe.
For electric vehicles, the calculation includes both power plant emissions and emissions from the production of coal, natural gas and other fuels power plants use...
When looking at all these factors, driving the average EV is responsible for fewer global warming emissions than the average new gasoline car everywhere in the US. In some parts of the country, driving the average new gasoline car will produce 4 to 7 times the emissions of the average EV...
Compared to our last analysis that used 2016 power plant data, emissions from EVs are on average 10 percent lower. The reductions have come from two primary sources:
- The emissions rate from power plants in the US fell over 5 percent between 2016 and 2018. The drop comes from lower generation from coal and increases in natural gas, wind, and solar.
- The average efficiency of EVs sold to-date in the US improved since our last analysis (by about 6 percent).
It took me 10 seconds of googling to find that report. Why couldn't you do the same? Of course we both know the reason...
Just because your precious EV doesn't emit CO2 (which is not a pollutant), doesn't mean the power plant that you're charging your vehicle from isn't generating the emissions for you.
See above.
You are wrong. Using fossil fuel to generate electricity for EVs produces fewer emissions than burning it in gas cars. And as the grid gets cleaner it gets better. Buy an EV today, and tomorrow it will be even cleaner than it is now.
The two positives that EVs have, is that they are quiet, and electric motors have a lot of torque. But to pretend that you are benefiting the environment by purchasing one, is an exercise in self-delusion.
Some are deluding themselves for sure - but not EV owners.
You keep making unscientific statements, misrepresenting statistics, ignoring facts, appealing to emotion and employing dishonest tricks to justify your refusal to accept change and 'inconvenient' truths. Keep doing it if you like, but we aren't listening. We've heard and debunked it all before, and now we just want to get on with
dealing with the problems you say don't exist. And unlike you, we will
enjoy rising to the challenge.
