Are Electric Cars Really Green ?
There are many problems with Electric Cars (or EVs). The driving
range is an average of 315Km[1].
If you forget to charge it and come to a halt, you can't go
to the petrol station for a refill.
If you remember in time, you still have to wait up to 2 hours
for it to charge. What a waste of your life !
Electric Car
pexels.com
Rubbish Tip
When you buy a new car, there is a chain reaction. As an example, you sell your 2-year old car to buy an EV. Someone else sells his 5-year old car to buy yours. At the end of the chain, there is either an extra car on the road because the last one is dirt cheap. Or it ends up in the tip. Sorry, neither option is Green. Lithium batteries are also currently not recyclable [2] and have a life of about 10 years !Grid uses Fossil Fuels
In most countries, the majority of the power generated by the grid is either Nuclear or Fossil Fuel. So, for most people, charging an electric car at the end of the grid still uses Fossil Fuels. Only a few countries like New Zealand produce the majority (but not ALL) of their power from non-fossil sources, such as Hydro [3].Grid is Inefficient
Grid production and transmission are inefficient. For example, in Malaysia, for every 100MWhr generated, less than 32MWhr reaches the consumer [4]. A whopping 68% is lost in transmission and conversion. Yup, now you are destroying the Earth even faster, because you are using three times the amount of fuel you used to before you went EV. I hope you are still feeling good about it !Production is Dirty
The manufacture of an EV is very very dirty. EVs need Lithium Batteries. The batteries need Lithium and Graphene [5]. The production of both Lithium [6] and Graphene [7] is so not Green. To improve efficiency, an EV normally uses ultra-ultra processed composite materials from carbon fibre and plastics. Surely, rusting iron is a Greener product to make cars from.Conclusion
I fail to see how an Electric car is Green in any sense of the word. Unless it is green in colour. I recommend that if you want to feel good about it, then (for now) get a hybrid. If an Electric car is not Green, then why are the Greens telling you to jump on the band wagon ?- Above are my views based on my personal experience and my interactions with leading scientists and real-life observers of events.
- If you spot any errors in fact or deduction, please send me a note so that I can correct this piece.
- If you have an opposing viewpoint, let me know with facts or even reasoned arguments and I will update this essay.
- How do you tell the difference between a believer in science and a believer in religion.
References (a tiny sample)
- Range of Electric Cars (Travelling distance on a full charge).
- Lithium Batteries have a short life (about 10 years).
- Most of USA's power is fossil (not nuclear).
- Power Generation Losses in Malaysia (eye opener).
- Batteries use Lithium and Graphene (Yes, fossils again).
- Mining of Lithium (dirty and not green).
- Mining of Graphite for Graphene (think of it as coal!).
- Composites: high performance but high price.
- How well do electric vehicles stack up against their counterparts when you take all the inputs into account ?
- German Institute Delivers Bad News On CO2, E-Cars: "Electric Vehicles Not A Panacea For Climate Change".
- The big electric vehicle LIE: Electric cars are not "zero emissions," and their ecological impact is actually dirtier than diesel trucks.