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A comment on Electric vehicles are way more energy-efficient than internal combustion. Parent comment

Re:Electric vehicles are way more energy-efficient than inte... by Xylakant on Sunday August 14, 2022 @04:52AM (#32457651)
I’d love to see that study and see if it takes into account how much energy was expended constructing the car vs the bike and the roadway required for the car. CO2/Mile on a basis of marginal energy invested for each extra mile is not a valid comparison.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Electric vehicles are way more energy-efficient than inte... by hot_gril on Sunday August 14, 2022 @05:23AM (#32457792)
https://keith.seas.harvard.edu/blog/climate-impacts-biking-v...

It doesn't count the manufacturing of each. It's still a valid comparison without it, cause most Americans who have a bike probably also have a car that they need for trips that aren't bike-able, and also cause it helps to separate fixed and marginal costs anyway.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Electric vehicles are way more energy-efficient than inte... by Xylakant on Sunday August 14, 2022 @05:51AM (#32457933)
There are other places I. The world where this is not true. For example, more than 50% of all households within this S-Bahn ring in Berlin (let’s call that the extended center) do not own a car. The bike may also replace a second or third car. Not counting the cost of manufacture is just sloppy.

They also picked a car that is twice as efficient as the average car for comparison and the most meat-heavy fiery possible (essentially meat only). That’s interesting as a though experiment, but not as a basis for policy- which is exactly what they state in their preface.

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Re:Electric vehicles are way more energy-efficient than inte... by hot_gril on Sunday August 14, 2022 @06:00AM (#32457974)
Yeah, it's not for policy, otherwise it'd have to target a particular jurisdiction too. It's for individual interpretation. If you eat a lot of meat and own a car and a bike already, maybe think about biking more as a healthy exercise than a way to help the environment, or think of meat as a bigger problem for it.
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Re:Electric vehicles are way more energy-efficient than inte... by LunaSea on Sunday August 14, 2022 @08:10AM (#32458587)
The roadway is also required for bikes.
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Re:Electric vehicles are way more energy-efficient than inte... by occz on Sunday August 14, 2022 @09:15AM (#32458989)
Paved bicycle paths require a fraction of the size and an even smaller fraction of the upkeep, on account of bicycles being so light, and road tear being an approximate function of weight to the fourth power.
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Re:Electric vehicles are way more energy-efficient than inte... by LunaSea on Sunday August 14, 2022 @09:38AM (#32459139)
If you want everyone to bike, you'll need larger bikeways than what exists now.

Also, you'll still need the roads for logistics.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Electric vehicles are way more energy-efficient than inte... by occz on Sunday August 14, 2022 @09:58AM (#32459297)
Bicycle infrastructure accomodates far more people per area of infrastructure, as cars scale really poorly while bicycles scale really well.

My point about maintenance also still stands.

[ Parent | on HN ]