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"The actual greenhouse gas emissions depend on the energy mix used for charging the batteries, but as long as we do not have abundant climate-neutral energy, it
by jupp0r 4y ago
"The actual greenhouse gas emissions depend on the energy mix used for charging the batteries, but as long as we do not have abundant climate-neutral energy, it makes sense to save energy by driving at lower speeds."
This argument (often also applied to the size of cars) is something I often read. It's an instance of the perfectionist fallacy. Electric cars are more harmful than gasoline powered cars if the energy they are powered by comes from coal plants. We must switch to carbon free energy. If we take that as a given, speed limits don't make sense from a climate change perspective. There are still other reasons why speed limits are beneficial (safety for example), but I think people arguing with carbon intensive electricity production in cases like this are not doing climate friendly transportation any favors.
- D13Fd 4y ago> Electric cars are more harmful than gasoline powered cars if the energy they are powered by comes from coal plants. This has been debunked over and over. Even EV’s charged by coal power plants have lower lifetime emissions than similarly-situated gasoline vehicles.
- nottorp 4y agoIt simply doesn't matter. You can replace the source of electricity of an EV without building a new EV and the emissions will drop. You can't do the same with a gas powered car.
- elvin_d 4y agoFYI https://www.wsj.com/graphics/are-electric-cars-really-better-for-the-environment/ https://www.wsj.com/graphics/are-electric-cars-really-better...