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To be fair. A Chevy volt can be more environmentally friendly than a Tesla. Most people don’t drive more than 50 miles per day. Pushing for hybrids with 50-75

To be fair. A Chevy volt can be more environmentally friendly than a Tesla. Most people don’t drive more than 50 miles per day. Pushing for hybrids with 50-75 mile range might do more for emissions than pushing everyone to EV convert. https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/are-chevy-volts-really-cheaper/ https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/are-chevy-...

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js2 5y ago
We love our Volt, but GM has discontinued Volt production. My spouse's driving is typical around-town errands with occasional road-trip. From the most recent monthly report: Fuel Economy: 205 mpg Electric Consumption: 31 kW-hr/100 miles Electric Miles: 341 Gas Miles: 81 Total Miles: 422 mi Percentage on Electric: 81%
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asdff 5y ago
Imo what would be even better for commuters and cities would be a push towards ebikes. They go 25mph, most traffic in rush hour goes 16mph so you can beat that if you can squeeze by or have a bike lane. Most have a range of like 20 miles at least, and iirc the average car commute in the U.S. is 5-7 miles one way so these vehicles can cover most commutes. Ebikes are more tolerable to biking in inclimate weather than regular bikes as well. You don't get sweaty biking in the heat, and in the rain or snow you can actually gear up without risk of sweat building and soaking up your rain or snow gear from the inside as you huff and puff on a normal bike. If enough people are inclined to ebike commute, there will be more political support for more bike lanes, even services like plows and salting of the bike lanes over the winter, or even cheap shades over the lanes to keep off rain or sun. The big barrier of ebikes is their cost. If you want one that isn't aliexpress tier with questionable batteries that might explode, you are going to drop money that could buy you a pretty decent used honda that is way more practical, probably $1500-2000. Plus there is the issue of theft and insuring these from theft or accidents. I'm not sure if theft would be covered by renters insurance or if you'd need a separate policy, it might even depend where the bike was stolen. If the government is willing to give new EV car buyers $7000, they should give that same stipend to ebike buyers who would be able to get any top of the line model for free with money left over with that amount of subsidy. Not only do you get most of the benefits of electric commuting like with an EV, but you don't have to deal with the congestion that a car sized vehicle like an EV carrying one person at a time brings.

deleted 5y ago

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js2 5y ago

We love our Volt, but GM has discontinued Volt production. My spouse's driving is typical around-town errands with occasional road-trip. From the most recent monthly report: Fuel Economy: 205 mpg Electric Consumption: 31 kW-hr/100 miles Electric Miles: 341 Gas Miles: 81 Total Miles: 422 mi Percentage on Electric: 81%

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

asdff 5y ago

Imo what would be even better for commuters and cities would be a push towards ebikes. They go 25mph, most traffic in rush hour goes 16mph so you can beat that if you can squeeze by or have a bike lane. Most have a range of like 20 miles at least, and iirc the average car commute in the U.S. is 5-7 miles one way so these vehicles can cover most commutes. Ebikes are more tolerable to biking in inclimate weather than regular bikes as well. You don't get sweaty biking in the heat, and in the rain or snow you can actually gear up without risk of sweat building and soaking up your rain or snow gear from the inside as you huff and puff on a normal bike. If enough people are inclined to ebike commute, there will be more political support for more bike lanes, even services like plows and salting of the bike lanes over the winter, or even cheap shades over the lanes to keep off rain or sun. The big barrier of ebikes is their cost. If you want one that isn't aliexpress tier with questionable batteries that might explode, you are going to drop money that could buy you a pretty decent used honda that is way more practical, probably $1500-2000. Plus there is the issue of theft and insuring these from theft or accidents. I'm not sure if theft would be covered by renters insurance or if you'd need a separate policy, it might even depend where the bike was stolen. If the government is willing to give new EV car buyers $7000, they should give that same stipend to ebike buyers who would be able to get any top of the line model for free with money left over with that amount of subsidy. Not only do you get most of the benefits of electric commuting like with an EV, but you don't have to deal with the congestion that a car sized vehicle like an EV carrying one person at a time brings.