There are studies after what kind of mileage an EV outperforms a regular car.
But the question is: Where do you get your electricity from? Is it regenerative energy?
the thing is that EVs are agnostic to their energy source. you could get 100% from your own home solar panel setup if you wanted to
Sure. I meant you have to pay attention and do it right. In theory you can do all kinds of things. Drive super dirty vehicles to none at all and use your bicycle and the train. But the actual CO2 emissions depend on what we all actually decide to do. A solar panel would be a excellent. Especially if you live in the south where you get plenty of sun.
What is the carbon footprint, particularly of the batteries, during both manufacture and disposal. How does that compare to internal combustion engines?
Short term EVs aren't making a lot of difference due to the higher energy costs of manufacturing them. Long term cars are just a terrible transportation method, especially within cities, and we really need alternatives so that we can get rid of most of them.
On the other hand as renewable energy sources take over the grid the energy costs of manufacturing EVs will be less relevant to climate change, and it's just going to be faster to switch power plants and new car manufacturing over than it will be to rebuild the entire transportation infrastructure on all of Earth, especially North America. That time difference will have a large effect on how bad things will get by the end of this century. EVs are dumb, but also a necessary stopgap.
I’m no expert, but I’ve asked the same question myself.
First off, I’ve been told that yes, exhaust from I.C.E. vehicles is very much a HUGE environmental concern. That being said, however- due to issues with current electrical generation, means that unless large steps are taken toward sustainable green energy, running the current grid for enough to cover charging needs produces a comparatively close amount of pollution per mile driven. On top of that, is the issue with the rare-earth minerals needed to manufacture the batteries used in current EVs, which are extremely damaging to mine, especially in increasing quantities. And finally- once they are worn out, there is no reliably safe way to dispose of those batteries. And the current lifecycle of them averages around 3-5 years, so as more are disposed of, that impact on soil and water tables is projected to skyrocket.
So it’s a many-fold issue, and at the end of the day they aren’t necessarily WORSE than ICE vehicles, but they are also not really any better.
As for why people THINK they are super environmentally friendly? In a word- marketing.
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