5 ms·

The real issue isn't the demise of manual transmissions. It's the upcoming demise of transmissions entirely as electrification continues it's march towards ubiq

The real issue isn't the demise of manual transmissions. It's the upcoming demise of transmissions entirely as electrification continues it's march towards ubiquity.

rjzzleep 4y ago
You need a lot more mining and environmental destruction to get enough batteries for replacing all cars with electric vehicles. Kind of wondering if maybe one day we could have safe micro reactors that can power vehicles.
- JohnJamesRambo 4y ago
  I saw how that turned out in Fallout.
- danny_codes 4y ago
  Well given that the current approach is to dump emissions directly into the atmosphere, I'll take the alternative. Obviously EVs are a suboptimal solution. The real solution to transportation energy use is to switch to walking, biking, and transit as the principle mode of transportation,while switching freight mostly back to rail. If you could just walk or bike where you wanted to go (ie, land use is good where you live), than these problems become much smaller.
- iancmceachern 4y ago
  And as they say, the most environmentally friendly car is the one you already own.
  - _ph_ 4y ago
    While that is often true, it isn't always the case. If you are using a lot of gas (driving a lot, high consumption), replacing it with an electric car can very quickly be more environmental friendly. If you are not using a lot of gas, like only driving your car infrequently, keeping your old car running might be better though.
    - torstein4 4y ago
      What would very quickly mean? Do you have some data perhaps on the breakpoints regarding this? I'm not dismissive of your statement, just want to see some data.
- dreamcompiler 4y ago
  A similar amount of mining would be required for the steel, aluminum, and plastic needed to build brand new ICE cars. And ICE cars require constant mining of petroleum just to use the car. The key difference with electric cars is that mining is not necessary to use the car (as long as you charge it with renewable electricity). The environmental damage from the use phase of ICE vehicles dwarfs the environmental damage from their construction, because use is continuous and ongoing while construction only happens once. Getting rid of the continuous pollution of ICE cars is a major win.
- scythe 4y ago
  There's actually a startup, TexPower, that is working on a cobalt-free lithium-nickel battery: https://innovation.uh.edu/companies/texpower https://innovation.uh.edu/companies/texpower The founder, Arumugam Manthiram, published several papers on the topic, introducing promising new chemistries: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/adma.202002718 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/adma.2020027... (nickel-manganese-aluminium) https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdfdirect/10.1002/aenm.202102421 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdfdirect/10.1002/aenm.2... (nickel-aluminium-titanium-magnesium) https://pdf.sciencedirectassets.com/313056/1-s2.0-S2405829720X00092/1-s2.0-S2405829720303731/am.pdf https://pdf.sciencedirectassets.com/313056/1-s2.0-S240582972... (review) Seems promising. The lead candidate previously for matching cobalt without the cobalt was lithium-vanadium-phosphate, but it has a variable voltage output that makes it difficult to work with.
- thescriptkiddie 4y ago
  More likely we just won't have cars.
alliao 4y ago
the amount of metal harvested to achieve ubiquity electrification is nowhere near enough... this march could take quite some time if we don't invent something new fast

The real issue isn't the demise of manual transmissions. It's the upcoming demise of transmissions entirely as electrification continues it's march towards ubiquity.

rjzzleep 4y ago

You need a lot more mining and environmental destruction to get enough batteries for replacing all cars with electric vehicles. Kind of wondering if maybe one day we could have safe micro reactors that can power vehicles.

JohnJamesRambo 4y ago
I saw how that turned out in Fallout.
danny_codes 4y ago
Well given that the current approach is to dump emissions directly into the atmosphere, I'll take the alternative. Obviously EVs are a suboptimal solution. The real solution to transportation energy use is to switch to walking, biking, and transit as the principle mode of transportation,while switching freight mostly back to rail. If you could just walk or bike where you wanted to go (ie, land use is good where you live), than these problems become much smaller.
iancmceachern 4y ago
And as they say, the most environmentally friendly car is the one you already own.
- _ph_ 4y ago
  While that is often true, it isn't always the case. If you are using a lot of gas (driving a lot, high consumption), replacing it with an electric car can very quickly be more environmental friendly. If you are not using a lot of gas, like only driving your car infrequently, keeping your old car running might be better though.
  - torstein4 4y ago
    What would very quickly mean? Do you have some data perhaps on the breakpoints regarding this? I'm not dismissive of your statement, just want to see some data.
dreamcompiler 4y ago
A similar amount of mining would be required for the steel, aluminum, and plastic needed to build brand new ICE cars. And ICE cars require constant mining of petroleum just to use the car. The key difference with electric cars is that mining is not necessary to use the car (as long as you charge it with renewable electricity). The environmental damage from the use phase of ICE vehicles dwarfs the environmental damage from their construction, because use is continuous and ongoing while construction only happens once. Getting rid of the continuous pollution of ICE cars is a major win.
scythe 4y ago
There's actually a startup, TexPower, that is working on a cobalt-free lithium-nickel battery: https://innovation.uh.edu/companies/texpower https://innovation.uh.edu/companies/texpower The founder, Arumugam Manthiram, published several papers on the topic, introducing promising new chemistries: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/adma.202002718 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/adma.2020027... (nickel-manganese-aluminium) https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdfdirect/10.1002/aenm.202102421 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdfdirect/10.1002/aenm.2... (nickel-aluminium-titanium-magnesium) https://pdf.sciencedirectassets.com/313056/1-s2.0-S2405829720X00092/1-s2.0-S2405829720303731/am.pdf https://pdf.sciencedirectassets.com/313056/1-s2.0-S240582972... (review) Seems promising. The lead candidate previously for matching cobalt without the cobalt was lithium-vanadium-phosphate, but it has a variable voltage output that makes it difficult to work with.
thescriptkiddie 4y ago
More likely we just won't have cars.

alliao 4y ago

the amount of metal harvested to achieve ubiquity electrification is nowhere near enough... this march could take quite some time if we don't invent something new fast