Britain to ban new petrol cars and vans by 2030 on road to net zero emissions

Re:Britain to ban new petrol cars and vans by 2030 on road t... by ppf on Wednesday November 18, 2020 @06:15AM (#25135490)

Great, thanks. I just compared my family car to a somewhat equivalent EV, and it takes 40,000km to break even in CO2 emissions. This is very much in line with my original point (and my "back of the envelope maths"). In the online calculator you linked, I assumed a car life of around 150,000km, as the longevity of mass-produced EVs is yet to be determined. It also addresses none of the additional points in my original comment, as we have so far talked entirely about CO2 emissions. If it is all about CO2, and the impending climate catastrophe, then the relatively small reduction in CO2/mile from an EV is just not even close to what is needed. In the calculator linked, it's a 40% reduction per mile. An EV is not the answer. Significantly fewer travelled miles is the answer.

Edit: Just for reference, the UN is calling for a 7.6% reduction in CO2 every year for the next 10 years. Either way you calculate it, an EV alone does not acheive that goal. And if you massively reduce your miles (say, 10x), it doesn't matter (relatively speaking) if you use an EV or an ICE car.

https://www.unenvironment.org/explore-topics/climate-change/...

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Re:Britain to ban new petrol cars and vans by 2030 on road t... by hokkos on Wednesday November 18, 2020 @10:55AM (#25138213)

In my country, France, it is a 4.5 times reduction, grid will continue to decarbonate, electric car have less moving part and their engine is not a self destructing explosive one, batteries max cycle continuously extends, also batteries CO2e/kWh will continue to reduce as their is better industrial process and the electric grid is being decarboned and mining vehicles switch to electric, also we continue to use less minerals to store a kWh.

Also we can both buy less car, drive less km and switch to electric when a car is needed but use more the one car with car sharing infrastructure.

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Re:Britain to ban new petrol cars and vans by 2030 on road t... by ppf on Wednesday November 18, 2020 @11:13AM (#25138476)

You have a 75% nuclear-powered grid in France, so yes, that probably does work out. It is also the only practical solution if we want EVs.

I really don't buy the whole "electric cars have less moving parts" argument. As I said in my original comment - how many cars get scrapped or sold due to electrical issues, compared to ICE issues? You should know, in France ;) Replacing mechanical moving parts with integrated circuits that have features on the nanometer scale that must not move, and putting them in the harsh automotive environment, is not a step forward in reliability.

I understand that technology and processes will improve, but that's not really a good argument to invest in the technology today. Maybe I should wait, and buy an EV in a few years or decades, when the environmental impact is a lot less.

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