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We still have 10+ years until batteries and charging infrastructure is good enough to completely replace ICE cars. And then we have a few more decades while al

We still have 10+ years until batteries and charging infrastructure is good enough to completely replace ICE cars. And then we have a few more decades while all the existing ICE cars age out and are actually replaced. Consider how many people today drive 10-20 year old cars. This goes doubly for high end collector cars like Porsches: Porsches from the 70s and 80s are still popular among enthusiasts, and these cars need to be repaired.

HeadsUpHigh 6y ago
I don't think the argument is about collectibles, people still ride horses and sail sailboats across oceans. At some point EVs will be cheaper to own than any ICE so even the old cars will get scrapped.
- funcDropShadow 6y ago
  But the question whether they really produce less pollution over their whole life time is still not settled. Production of the battery pack is quite energy intensive, lithium and neodym mining is not without problems. And you have to move around the battery pack all the time. If electrical energy storage were the most economic one, I would expect at least one species to do that. Instead, they all store their energy in chemical storage mechanisms, i.e. fat, glycogen, ATP/ADP etc. In order to solve the climate problems, it would be enough to synthesize gasoline from C02 in the athmosphere using renewable energy sources. A break through here, could immediately revert the whole trend towards electric vehicles. Of course this would not completely solve the pollution problem. Just CO2 pollution.
  - HeadsUpHigh 6y ago
    It is 100% settled. This story about EVs producing more CO2 is a myth from an MIT study that was misinterpreted by a blog paid by an oil PR firm. And it seems to still be working despite the time that it has passed and despite the fact that the MIT team came forward debunking it. A Nissan Leaf for example takes 2 years to reach the breakeven point in CO2 production.

HeadsUpHigh 6y ago

I don't think the argument is about collectibles, people still ride horses and sail sailboats across oceans. At some point EVs will be cheaper to own than any ICE so even the old cars will get scrapped.

funcDropShadow 6y ago
But the question whether they really produce less pollution over their whole life time is still not settled. Production of the battery pack is quite energy intensive, lithium and neodym mining is not without problems. And you have to move around the battery pack all the time. If electrical energy storage were the most economic one, I would expect at least one species to do that. Instead, they all store their energy in chemical storage mechanisms, i.e. fat, glycogen, ATP/ADP etc. In order to solve the climate problems, it would be enough to synthesize gasoline from C02 in the athmosphere using renewable energy sources. A break through here, could immediately revert the whole trend towards electric vehicles. Of course this would not completely solve the pollution problem. Just CO2 pollution.
- HeadsUpHigh 6y ago
  It is 100% settled. This story about EVs producing more CO2 is a myth from an MIT study that was misinterpreted by a blog paid by an oil PR firm. And it seems to still be working despite the time that it has passed and despite the fact that the MIT team came forward debunking it. A Nissan Leaf for example takes 2 years to reach the breakeven point in CO2 production.