When the major auto manufacturers start changing their EV plans, it’s probably a sign something’s not quite right. For all those who think they’re better than everyone else because they drive a Tesla, this video is for you…
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There’s some fair old nonsense in this video, and I’m not sure why such low-quality material is being promoted on a site like LR.
Why, for example, would it take a “century plus, most likely” to find the materials required to make a global EV fleet? The global ICE fleet has been developed, from approximately zero, in the last century or so, and it’s not like that entire supply chain from mines to smelters needs to be reinvented from scratch. In fact, given the average age of vehicles on the road, the materials required for the global ICE fleet that you can see on the road today has been mined, refined, and produced in more like 20 years, being generous. The average age of the fleet in the UK is 8.4 years, for example.
So I think the author of this video is suffering from “motivated reasoning”, and while he has a point on some aspects, almost all this video should have “citation needed” flags.
I find the “more stuff” argument to be most disingenuous. It’s been reported in study, after study, after study that the manufacturing carbon footprint of an ICE car is less than 20% of its lifetime carbon emissions. Even if an EV is twice that, it’s still a long way short of an ICE over its lifetime. And that number only gets better over time as more and more of our electricity becomes decoupled from the carbon cycle. It seems very US-centric in that regard, ignoring places like Norway that are already 80+% clean energy.
EVs do come with their own set of problems, but reactionary nonsense like this isn’t helping matters.
@Chz, Andy Allan
I include the Peter Zeihan videos as I have been following him for about a year now, read one of his books, and viewed many of his videos – I find he does his homework, bases his analysis on the data, and has a broad base of knowledge. This doesn’t come across in a short video, but he is a respected geo-political strategist. LBM
The video is so full of US assumptions and perspectives that just don’t apply in Europe, like where the electricity comes from. On the rare metal front, there is just as much in a catalytic exhaust and new battery technologies are doing away with that dependency. Battery technologies have developed in leaps and bounds already so the Leaf only had a 30 mile range when it first came out and was quite unsuitable unless you were in the city. My own 2022 E-Up! has a minimum range of 116 miles, twice that in summer and satisfies 99.9% of my journeys and ranges are increasing in new models every year.
In terms of recharging stations, consider that when the motor car was first being bought, you had to plan your journeys in relation to hardware shops, the only place you could buy petrol at the time. Petrol stations eventually grew because of the demand, because it made economic sense run run one as a business. That’s not quite so true for electric chargers because many people, myself for one, charge at home.