7 ms·

There are plenty of studies on this from my quick Google searches, some better than others. Disregard the one funded by oil industry that assume without further

by dagss 8y ago

There are plenty of studies on this from my quick Google searches, some better than others. Disregard the one funded by oil industry that assume without further comments that batteries are discarded after 150 000 km, that is not a good assumption to make. My summary is that a big factor is the CO2 emissions of producing the battery pack which must then be offset. So it depends on size of battery pack, how the pack is used after the car is not used any longer, how much mileage you get out of the car, etc etc E.g. a Tesla Model X will NOT be better than a tiny gasoline car (of course) But TL;DR is EV wins for same class cars and for most power mixes, but not by a huge factor. However, EV + solar/fusion/wind/batteries/.. is at least a possible path (if challenging) of preserving the current lifestylr. Burning fossil fuels is something we know we just have to stop doing 100% in some decades. So there really isn't much alternative to getting the adoption underway. To those saying Norway has 98% hydro: Fine, but that doesn't change that the power would have been sold to Europe if we don't consume it here. Computing with the EU average mix seems more fair.

jillesvangurp 8y ago
You are forgetting about people installing solar on their roof. That seems to be a popular thing with people that own electrical vehicles; especially in places with high grid cost. Basically, some of those house holds end up being net contributors to the grid rather than net consumers of dirty energy. You still have to factor in production cost of solar panels. But they tend to have lifespans measured in decades. The economics for this have been going from dubious to worth it with subsidies to now increasingly also without subsidies; depending on where you live. Also, car to grid is becoming a thing where car batteries provide power back to the grid when they are not needed. This can add a lot of flexibility to the grid and better utilization of capacity. IMHO, deploying GwHs of battery capacity on the roads in the next few years is creating a massive opportunity for electricity companies to improve their economics and decrease their dependence on gas/coal.

by dagss 8y ago

jillesvangurp 8y ago

You are forgetting about people installing solar on their roof. That seems to be a popular thing with people that own electrical vehicles; especially in places with high grid cost. Basically, some of those house holds end up being net contributors to the grid rather than net consumers of dirty energy. You still have to factor in production cost of solar panels. But they tend to have lifespans measured in decades. The economics for this have been going from dubious to worth it with subsidies to now increasingly also without subsidies; depending on where you live. Also, car to grid is becoming a thing where car batteries provide power back to the grid when they are not needed. This can add a lot of flexibility to the grid and better utilization of capacity. IMHO, deploying GwHs of battery capacity on the roads in the next few years is creating a massive opportunity for electricity companies to improve their economics and decrease their dependence on gas/coal.