electric vehicle problems still ignored

While it might make you feel good to stop using fossil fuels, switching to an electric vehicle might be causing just as much if not more unrecoverable environmental damage. Yet AAA claims its results show that 40 million Americans would likely consider an electric car for their next vehicle purchase, with Millennials more likely to take the plunge than other age groups. Not so fast: why the electric vehicle revolution will bring problems â¦ I see an awful lot of them sitting in junkyards. Lets focus on EVs for a second with out whatabouting in every direction just to be abrasive. The only way this happens is with civic engagement (from voters), strong leadership, and effective environmental policy. Rather, the batteries are typically processed to remove the cobalt and a few other expensive metals, with much of the remainder released as air emissions or used as filler in concrete or other construction products. But the announcement also underscores one of the fundamental challenges that will complicate the transition to electric vehicles. That's one of the reasons why Tesla has never used them, preferring to sell cars directly to customers. Mr. Stark, these sounds don't make me feel so good. Without cobalt, there may be little financial incentive to recycle the massive batteries used to power the cars — and that could lead to an environmental disaster. But for metal, it was basically “any metal” should go in the bin. Maserati 'Needs Combustion Engines,' Will Never Go All-Electric: Report. Perhaps Itâs Time to Consider an Electric Car. An article about the environmental costs of electric vehicles in Adventure Journal? The CR experiment was designed to simulate a typical daily routine consisting of multiple drivesâsuch as running errands. Battery electric? A recent United Nations report found that hundreds of thousands of electric and hybrid vehicles are being exported annually from Japan, the E.U. Sometimes you have larger vehicles, old delivery vans etc. But that won’t happen either if the raw materials aren’t economically transported to the manufacturing site. Bringing awareness to opportunities for improvement is critical to progress!!! What? Before you start worrying about recycling the surplus of dead batteries, you best consider where the minerals needed to make these exotic batteries will come from in the first place. Itâs too early to say how many chargers will be needed statewide in 2035 for Gov. Yawn….’whatabout’ arguments are generally tired and incomplete, similar to what you have just offered here. Another member of Detroit's "Big Three" joins the race toward bringing an electric pickup to market, elevating the competition yet again. This is typical of any new technology. But as battery prices and production costs fall, such subsides will no longer be needed. See this piece, or this one, or how about this one right here? The fact that they are sitting in “junkyards” means they are being recycled. Society needs to make reduce/reuse/recycle a priority because corporations never will. We also need to incentivize alternative modes of transportation. Typically made with cobalt, nickel, and manganese, among other components, these batteries cost thousands of dollars and come with an environmental burden: They require ingredients sourced from polluting mines and smelters around the world, and they can ultimately contaminate soil and water supplies if improperly disposed. Today, most electric vehicles retail at the luxury end of the market, with sticker prices up to $150,000. You leave me wondering if you ever published an article about the need to recycle gasoline and diesel engines. Sometimes a ‘good’ but wrecked car will remain in situ for a number of years waiting for folks to come by to purchase a starter motor, gear box, fuel pump or passenger door. You mean to tell me it is not switching from ICE to EV that will save us but actually making us default to other, less impactful, means of transportation? We have already started shifting the burden of lithium-ion battery disposal to low- and middle-income countries, many of which lack stringent environmental safeguards and the facilities to recycle or otherwise process used batteries in an environmentally sound way. Ask yourself how many people who buy luxury cars actually drive 500k miles as well. Today, most electric vehicles retail at the luxury end of the market, with sticker prices up to $150,000. In fact, manufacturers are not even required to disclose the contents of their batteries to would-be recyclers. Regenerative braking helps boost range in stop and go traffic, but most respondents seemed to be unaware of this, with 59 percent saying they were unsure of whether electric cars had a greater range in stop and go traffic or highway driving. The technology behind electric vehicles is advancing. AAA recommends that car buyers do as much research as possible, including going to dealerships to test drive cars and pepper salespeople with questions. Nick, you need to read something other than EV blogs and publications pushing EVs. There is no free lunch when it comes to energy. Sure, you’ll be at 75% life at 200,000 miles, but when that still gives you a 200 mile range, I can totally live with that. In the rush to embrace this technology, auto companies are adopting the same pretense that has been embraced by the plastics industry: They are claiming that used batteries will be recycled. After years of being derided as a joke by car manufacturers and the public, interest in electric vehicles has increased sharply as governments around the world move to ban petrol and diesel cars. Whereas China and the E.U. Farhad Manjoo: The problem with electric cars is, they are still cars The problem isnât just gas-fueled cars but car-fueled lives (Ilana Panich-Linsman | The New York Times) A vehicle â¦ He said that the grid had accepted increased demand when air conditioners came into popular use in the 1950s and it was no problem then, so he figured electric cars â¦ "Today, more than 200,000 electric cars can be found on roads across the country as almost every manufacturer sells them," Greg Brannon, AAA director of automotive engineering and industry relations, said in a statement. Electric cars might be a quick fix to clean up transport, but the problems with cars go beyond just emissions. In this test, we put the EVs through three trips, each about 21 miles. Toyota is a leader in hybrid gas-electric cars, which will still be allowed under the governmentâs plan. California also just announced a plan to phase out gas and diesel cars by 2035. Some of our most-viewed articles of the past few years are about the, presumed, coming of electric trucks and SUVs as adventure platforms. Of those surveyed, four out of 10 said they believed most vehicles will be electric by 2029. Oh wait…. One of the largest, the battery for the Mercedes-Benz EQC, comes in at 1,400 pounds. Consumer Ignorance on Electric Vehicles Is Still a Major Problem, AAA Survey Says Lack of knowledge is stopping people who are interested in electric cars from actually buying them. Teslaâs new Model 3 and the Chevy Bolt both have ranges well over 200 miles â in 2015, the worldâs top-selling electric car only had a top range of 80 miles. The survey results indicate that people like the idea of electric cars, but more buyers will have to actually plunk down cash for them in order to achieve the ultimate goal of electrification: reducing emissions. These vehicle batteries will be shipped to third world countries just like our used computer components where they will be scavenged for the minor useful materials and then dumped in poor communities causing hazardous waste impacts for decades. We frequently cover EVs as part of our Overlandia column, it’s a big draw for many of our readers. I say this as an EV driver, and career renewable energy professional. To account for the inevitable growth in this waste stream, manufacturers and electric vehicle advocates are touting the potential for these batteries to be reused after their useful life in vehicles has been realized. Even though electric cars are receiving more positive attention and becoming more common, adoption is slow. The basic problem is that electricity will never be appropriate for such demanding use as general transportation, which means there will never be enough chickens or eggs to balance the demand. I’m all for EVs and lowering fossil fuel emissions. Every major auto manufacturer now has at least one electric vehicle in production, and some — including Daimler, Volkswagen, and General Motors — have pledged to phase out the production of gas and diesel engines entirely. The federal government subsidizes these sales â as do some state governments â to help electric cars compete with conventional vehicles. Yes this take time, but its actually the better way to go about a careful use of resources. – Ed. Perhaps readers unfamiliar with our overlanding content could use a primer, so I’ll add one. Once it has nothing left to offer, it will be crushed and sold as scrap to be melted down and recycled. Gavin Newsomâs call that all vehicles sold in the state be electric in 15 more years. This system of actually using / selling the functional parts is immensely greener than immediately crushing and melting wrecked cars simply to say that its first use is finished, now it must be recycled. But even if these efforts succeed in developing technologies to safely and economically remove, transport, dismantle, and remanufacture batteries, this would simply delay a battery’s ultimate fate by a few years. In anticipation of the expected increase in sales, we must start now to plan for a future when individual lithium-ion battery consumption transitions from the one-ounce battery in your cell phone to the behemoth in your garage. These subsidies will need to make up for the difference between the cost of transporting and processing spent batteries and the value of the extracted materials. Not to mention the fact that EVs must be recharged using electricity currently generated by fossil fuels for efficiency. A 150,000 mile old Model 3 is probably in my future. More than a dozen countries, including many in Europe, have said they plan to ban sales of gasoline and diesel cars by 2040 or sooner. Are we supposed to connect the dots that an EV SUV is somehow outdoorsy and tied to adventure? You might believe the refineries will simply move their personnel and refurbish facilities to make batteries. This doesn’t mean the new tech is clean of all environmental impact. But electric vehicles come with their own host of environmental concerns that combustion engine-powered ones don’t. If they’ll last even 400,000 miles, then that is a bargain. Electric vehicles offer the potential to disrupt this status quo relationship between transportation and oil, and offer a cleaner, better way to fuel transportation for everyone. However, the truth is being swept under the rug. Concern over lack of charging stations and range anxiety was down 11 percent from 2017, while concern over battery-replacement costs and a higher purchase price for electric cars were down 8 percent and 6 percent, respectively. Many survey respondents lack fundamental knowledge of electric cars. © document.write(new Date().getFullYear()) Brookline Media Inc. All Rights Reserved. Car use will still need to be curbed even when all vehicles are powered by clean electricity, a report has said. This article doesn’t even weigh in the benefits that EVs do bring, even with this one very large problem. The lack of charging stations. The electrification of the German auto industry is turning into a public battle. by PERRY GOTTESFELD | Feb 1, 2021 | Opinion | 15 comments. It’s a money problem and a policy problem. But for all the hype, electric vehicles make up only 0.2 percent of passenger vehicles worldwide. Lithium-ion battery makers have yet to develop the technology that can economically extract components in a form that can be used to make new lithium-ion batteries. Also, it’s pretty simplistic to assume that this one aspect of not recycling will lead to “environmental disaster.” Not recycling period, and the demise of recycling that has been happening for years is a huge problem, this only contributes to it. Depending on the car and the country, tax breaks on an electric car can be as much as $10,000âmore than enough to sway buyer decisions, all else being equal. As for battery recycling, some of the tried and true battery technology cars, are saying the batteries are good for 200,000-250,000 miles. Used Tesla Model S’s can be had (very quick search on craigslist) for $30-35k with low 100,000 miles on them (2014 P85, one owner, clean title, with 115k for $33k today). To avoid the acceleration of these trends, regulations will be needed as we shift to an electric vehicle future. If you want people to run electric cars in the city and suburbs, there â¦ Elon Musk has stated that in an EV society we can not possibly generate enough electricity using renewable sources as the exist today. Source, my wife owns one. that act as little warehouses, holding for example hundreds of alternators for GM vehicles, I saw a small bus once filled with mirrors of every make and model. Those batteries are starting to pile up into a problem, according to a new paper published in the journal Nature today. It is refreshing to read an article that doesn’t talk about how EV’s will save the environment. Without these incentives, lithium-ion batteries will be dumped, incinerated, or exported to countries with weaker standards, where they will contaminate the environment and threaten public health. And without the most valuable ingredients, there will be little economic incentive to invest in recycling technologies. The switch would also significantly reduce health risks associated with vehicle emissions. Nickel has been shown to cause lung and nasal cancers, reduce lung function, and cause bronchitis. Perry Gottesfeld is the executive director of Occupational Knowledge International and a member of the California Environmental Protection Agency’s Lithium-ion Car Battery Recycling Advisory Group. Come on……. The Tesla suffers a panoply of build-quality issues include misaligned body â¦ But electric motors are merely a power source, not a panacea. Why is this even printed on Adventure Journal? There are no clear prohibitions against exporting used lithium-ion batteries or selling used vehicles with degraded batteries to low-income countries at fire-sale prices. Few, if any of the most promising minerals (mostly rare earth minerals) for high storage batteries, are found in the US. But the company doesnât have a fully electric vehicle for the mass market just yet. It is foolish and irresponsible for anyone to jump onto the renewable power band wagon without taking a realistic look at the entire picture, cradle to grave. Lack of understanding may have contributed to that attitude. None of the lithium-ion batteries in electric vehicles are recyclable in the same sense that paper, glass, and lead car batteries are. And Mauritius incentivize alternative modes of transportation the fundamental challenges that will complicate the transition to new! Slowing adoption of electric cars compete with conventional vehicles are being exported from... Enough electricity using renewable sources as the exist today the environment mind is all the! The bin to countries like Sri Lanka and Mauritius to say how many who! Lithium-Ion batteries or selling used cars parts to go about a careful use of resources one! About this one, or this one, or this one very large problem used! 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