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I use my "aircraft carrier" to carry a bunch of stuff every other week, to take a bunch of people and their gear into the woods every other month, to pull a tra

I use my "aircraft carrier" to carry a bunch of stuff every other week, to take a bunch of people and their gear into the woods every other month, to pull a trailer a couple of times a year. I could be even more wasteful by purchasing a second vehicle and drive that one the rest of the time, but even a small commuter car takes up almost as much room on the highway, even more room at my house, and I doubt the pollution it would save from my truck outweighs the pollution used to create the second vehicle. I might consider a motorcycle, but to follow the traffic laws, it would take up almost the same amount of room on the highway as a small commuter car.

ghaff 6y ago
I had a small fun 2-seater (with very good gas mileage) car in addition to my SUV for many years. Donated it last year. It sort of made sense (or I could at least convince myself it did) when I had a 30-45 minute commute every day. But once I stopped commuting and started traveling a lot, the insurance, registration, state inspection--plus the fact that it meant I really needed to optimize storage in my garage in the winter--it increasingly didn't make sense for the modest number of miles I drove it. Plus it was 20 years old and I didn't really trust it on longer trips.
darkerside 6y ago
By reducing usage, you could have both vehicles last almost twice as long, so I think it's safe to directly offset the pollution from gas creation and combustion, making a second vehicle a very good idea from an environmental standpoint. Plus, parts from a vehicle can be recycled or reused, whereas fuel burns once. Really though, it probably depends how long your commute is.
- RandomBacon 6y ago
  > you could have both vehicles last almost twice as long Good point. On one hand I would like the newer stuff though every so often, on the other hand, the older it is, the less likely it is to spy on its owner.
notJim 6y ago
I think the motorcycle is a decent idea, because it at least reduces emissions. However, there are issues of safety and weather. If a bike (possibly electric) works, that's probably the best commute vehicle.
- RandomBacon 6y ago
  An electric would be nice, because I hate loud bikes. If I get an ICE, I want it to be as quiet as possible. "Compensating" is stupid. I would be concerned with safety if I used it to run outings outside of home<-> work. I would also be concerned about theft on such outings.

ghaff 6y ago

I had a small fun 2-seater (with very good gas mileage) car in addition to my SUV for many years. Donated it last year. It sort of made sense (or I could at least convince myself it did) when I had a 30-45 minute commute every day. But once I stopped commuting and started traveling a lot, the insurance, registration, state inspection--plus the fact that it meant I really needed to optimize storage in my garage in the winter--it increasingly didn't make sense for the modest number of miles I drove it. Plus it was 20 years old and I didn't really trust it on longer trips.

darkerside 6y ago

By reducing usage, you could have both vehicles last almost twice as long, so I think it's safe to directly offset the pollution from gas creation and combustion, making a second vehicle a very good idea from an environmental standpoint. Plus, parts from a vehicle can be recycled or reused, whereas fuel burns once. Really though, it probably depends how long your commute is.

RandomBacon 6y ago
> you could have both vehicles last almost twice as long Good point. On one hand I would like the newer stuff though every so often, on the other hand, the older it is, the less likely it is to spy on its owner.

notJim 6y ago

I think the motorcycle is a decent idea, because it at least reduces emissions. However, there are issues of safety and weather. If a bike (possibly electric) works, that's probably the best commute vehicle.

RandomBacon 6y ago
An electric would be nice, because I hate loud bikes. If I get an ICE, I want it to be as quiet as possible. "Compensating" is stupid. I would be concerned with safety if I used it to run outings outside of home<-> work. I would also be concerned about theft on such outings.