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I live in a city and am not dying, in fact the air quality is very good. Do people who can afford electric cars live in the same cities where pollution is so ba

I live in a city and am not dying, in fact the air quality is very good. Do people who can afford electric cars live in the same cities where pollution is so bad that people are dying from it? Why don't they move to where the air quality is better? (Why move from a problem when you can make the problem move from you, I guess?) When the majority of pollution is coming from large trucks anyway, will swapping a few cars even matter?

greglindahl 9y ago
Big city air can look great and still kill young children and old folks due to small particles. Most cities in Europe have terrible air thanks to the popularity of diesel autos, the low standards for pollution controls, and European governments being willing to ignore automakers who break the rules. Do you have a source for most pollution coming from large trucks?
- stephengillie 9y ago
  Simply from the weight they carry, the energy required for this. Supplying a large city is neither cheap nor easy, and requires dozens or hundreds of daily shipments from dozens or hundreds of logistics companies. The majority of these happen during off-peak hours, to reduce load on the highway network. Lithium batteries still can't approach 10% of gasoline's energy density, so gasoline is mandatory for trucks, and will be until yet another new battery technology is not only discovered and brought to market, but mass-produced to the point that we have a battery-pollution problem. > the low standards for pollution controls Why don't they increase the standards? If people are dying there must be public outrage. Does Universal Healthcare cover pollution injuries? > European governments being willing to ignore automakers who break the rules. Are people protesting or working to change their governmental leadership? Or are they content to see their loved ones perish? If diesel cars are such a problem, why not outlaw these? Then only outlaws will drive them. Do you have a source for particulates killing children in cities?
  - llukas 9y ago
    > Lithium batteries still can't approach 10% of gasoline's energy density, so gasoline is mandatory for trucks, and will be until yet another new battery technology is not only discovered and brought to market, but mass-produced to the point that we have a battery-pollution problem. Too bad that correct number to look at is entire power system energy density (engine+fuel+transmission). Electric engines are a lot lighter so batteries do not need to have same energy density. > Why don't they increase the standards? If people are dying there must be public outrage. Your expectation of public outrage happening doesn't mean it happens. Even if people are dying. > Do you have a source for particulates killing children in cities? http://bfy.tw/Dayg http://bfy.tw/Dayg
    - grzm 9y ago
      Please don't use url shorteners as they obscure the destination URL, much less ones that lead to lmgtfy.
  - greglindahl 9y ago
    For how people die from air pollution, you can start with https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_pollution#Mortality https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_pollution#Mortality For Europe's special problem with diesel cars, try Googling [europe air pollution diesel]. It brings up a bunch of good news articles. Lithium batteries don't have to approach gasoline energy density to handle local deliveries. Also, these trucks don't use gasoline, they are diesel. Again, where is your source for "the majority of pollution is coming from large trucks"?
    - deleted 9y ago
      [deleted]
    - stephengillie 9y ago
      I was mistaken. I apologize. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/oct/21/diesel-cars-emissions-toxic-pollution-than-a-bus-data-reveals https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/oct/21/diesel-c... > It found that heavy-duty vehicles tested in Germany and Finland emitted about 210mg NOx per kilometre driven, less than half the 500mg/km pumped out by modern diesel cars that meet the highest “Euro 6” standard. However, the buses and trucks have larger engines and burn more diesel per kilometre, meaning that cars produce 10 times more NOx per litre of fuel That is atrocious - that a single car could pollute 4x more than a large truck or bus - and it's a side of the VW emissions scandal which never occurred to me. How did independent emissions testing not catch this - or were OBDII outputs simply accepted as accurate? The Seattle region used to have mandatory emissions testing by an independent agency, where they probe the tailpipe. This was recently ended. Were VW cars programmed to fool this testing too?

greglindahl 9y ago

Big city air can look great and still kill young children and old folks due to small particles. Most cities in Europe have terrible air thanks to the popularity of diesel autos, the low standards for pollution controls, and European governments being willing to ignore automakers who break the rules. Do you have a source for most pollution coming from large trucks?

stephengillie 9y ago
Simply from the weight they carry, the energy required for this. Supplying a large city is neither cheap nor easy, and requires dozens or hundreds of daily shipments from dozens or hundreds of logistics companies. The majority of these happen during off-peak hours, to reduce load on the highway network. Lithium batteries still can't approach 10% of gasoline's energy density, so gasoline is mandatory for trucks, and will be until yet another new battery technology is not only discovered and brought to market, but mass-produced to the point that we have a battery-pollution problem. > the low standards for pollution controls Why don't they increase the standards? If people are dying there must be public outrage. Does Universal Healthcare cover pollution injuries? > European governments being willing to ignore automakers who break the rules. Are people protesting or working to change their governmental leadership? Or are they content to see their loved ones perish? If diesel cars are such a problem, why not outlaw these? Then only outlaws will drive them. Do you have a source for particulates killing children in cities?
- llukas 9y ago
  > Lithium batteries still can't approach 10% of gasoline's energy density, so gasoline is mandatory for trucks, and will be until yet another new battery technology is not only discovered and brought to market, but mass-produced to the point that we have a battery-pollution problem. Too bad that correct number to look at is entire power system energy density (engine+fuel+transmission). Electric engines are a lot lighter so batteries do not need to have same energy density. > Why don't they increase the standards? If people are dying there must be public outrage. Your expectation of public outrage happening doesn't mean it happens. Even if people are dying. > Do you have a source for particulates killing children in cities? http://bfy.tw/Dayg http://bfy.tw/Dayg
  - grzm 9y ago
    Please don't use url shorteners as they obscure the destination URL, much less ones that lead to lmgtfy.
- greglindahl 9y ago
  For how people die from air pollution, you can start with https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_pollution#Mortality https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_pollution#Mortality For Europe's special problem with diesel cars, try Googling [europe air pollution diesel]. It brings up a bunch of good news articles. Lithium batteries don't have to approach gasoline energy density to handle local deliveries. Also, these trucks don't use gasoline, they are diesel. Again, where is your source for "the majority of pollution is coming from large trucks"?
  - deleted 9y ago
    [deleted]
  - stephengillie 9y ago
    I was mistaken. I apologize. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/oct/21/diesel-cars-emissions-toxic-pollution-than-a-bus-data-reveals https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/oct/21/diesel-c... > It found that heavy-duty vehicles tested in Germany and Finland emitted about 210mg NOx per kilometre driven, less than half the 500mg/km pumped out by modern diesel cars that meet the highest “Euro 6” standard. However, the buses and trucks have larger engines and burn more diesel per kilometre, meaning that cars produce 10 times more NOx per litre of fuel That is atrocious - that a single car could pollute 4x more than a large truck or bus - and it's a side of the VW emissions scandal which never occurred to me. How did independent emissions testing not catch this - or were OBDII outputs simply accepted as accurate? The Seattle region used to have mandatory emissions testing by an independent agency, where they probe the tailpipe. This was recently ended. Were VW cars programmed to fool this testing too?