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I don't work at Tesla. Here is why I would: I'm on team humanity. In spite all our failings, I want humanity to succeed and reach for the stars. Success means
by ericb 8y ago
I don't work at Tesla. Here is why I would:
I'm on team humanity. In spite all our failings, I want humanity to succeed and reach for the stars. Success means having a livable planet. For idealists like me who are also realists, the only way to get everyone working toward this future is to put it in their self-interest. Anything else just. won't. work.
To dedicate yourself in a practical way to the future of humanity, Tesla's one of the few games around.
- fulafel 8y agoEVs don't solve the CO2 footprint of cars, the improvement is too small. We must drastically reduce the low-occupancy car miles driven and reverse the car growth trend in developing countries.
- virgilp 8y agoYour comment makes A LOT of assumptions - in both ways e.g.: - you are ignoring the benefits that EVs could bring, as well as synergies with future technology improvements. Radically better battery technology coupled with cheap, affordable solar might be a game changer of unprecedented scale. - On the other hand, there's no proof that "drastically reducing the low-occupancy car miles driven" or "reversing the car growth trend" is either feasible or beneficial (how do you achieve the goal? Any measure is likely to have side-effects. I haven't seen any realistic proposal that doesn't have potentially horrible side-effects). Lastly, let me just tell you that I love it when people living in developed countries know what developing countries should do (which is typically "stay poor", but delivered in a more politically-correct way)
- majewsky 8y ago> I haven't seen any realistic proposal that doesn't have potentially horrible side-effects. What are the horrible side effects of car pools?
- virgilp 8y agoCar pools are "desired effects", maybe - for sure they aren't "realistic proposals". There are no horrible side effects to "a healthier population"; however, the prohibition showed us that there may indeed be bad side-effects to banning alcohol consumption & distribution (which could be argued as a measure that leads to a healthier population).
- alexgmcm 8y agoIt isn't just CO2 though. As a city dweller I look forward to a future with less air and noise pollution.
- blktiger 8y agoLess air polution for sure, but most of the noise from cars isn't from the engines. It's mostly the noise of tires traveling over pavement.
- dx034 8y agoDepends on speed. In cities, most noise tends to be from engines (esp trucks, buses etc). On motorways, engine noise plays little role.
- alexgmcm 8y agoWhere I live it's definitely the engines. Cars aren't so bad, but buses and motorcycles (which have removed the muffler) are horrendous. I don't have much faith that laws can solve the problem, so the spread of electric technology is my best hope.
- ericb 8y agoIf you add in solar and batteries with continual improvement, the improvement is just fine. > We must drastically reduce the low-occupancy car miles driven and reverse the car growth trend in developing countries. Any solution that ignores self-interest at the personal and state level is not a solution that can be banked on to work.
- strunz 8y agoNot everyone lives in a big city where this is even a realistic goal.
- brewdad 8y agoSure but most Americans (and Europeans) do. Don't let perfect be the enemy of good. Just because a solution doesn't solve every use case doesn't mean it's not worth pursuing.
- usaar333 8y agohttps://cleantechnica.com/2018/02/19/electric-car-well-to-wheel-emissions-myth/ https://cleantechnica.com/2018/02/19/electric-car-well-to-wh... 50% is hardly a small improvement. In some areas you are looking at a 70+% improvement. Asking people to swallow standard of living deductions is a lot harder than them getting a slightly different type of car.
- yitchelle 8y agoI applaud your ideals and attitude. I shared a similar ideals and attitude as well. But I also feel that a for-profit company is not doing our planet and humanity any favours if making a profit is priority number one. At least that is the message I am getting when I read the company update.
- ericb 8y agoI don't think anything other than a for-profit company can ever get the funds needed to aggressively expand, which is what is needed to get to a scale where change can be affected. A nonprofit would depend on goodwill, not self interest, and to my mind, only one of those things is reliable.