WHO KNEW Electric Vehicles (EVs) Are Not As Bad As Some Make Them Out To Be?
A number of articles have been pointing out the disadvantages of electric vehicles. These articles discuss the environmental and social impacts of mining the minerals, the possibility of fires, the lack of public chargers, and the cost. “The Guardian” has published a series of articles exploring these myths and providing balanced data.
Mining for the minerals used in EV batteries - nickel, lithium and cobalt - certainly has environmental impact and since much of this is mined in countries with lax human rights enforcement, it has a human impact. The Guardian cites that the demand for non-steel minerals for EV’s will reach 30 million tonnes (“The Guardian” is British) by 2030. But every gas car uses about 12 tonnes of fossil fuel in its lifetime, and mining for oil is not without its environmental and human rights impacts. What is more in a few years, the demand for these rarer metals will be much reduced as battery materials are recycled.
Fires caused by the batteries in EV’s make great headlines. But in reality, EV’s are much less likely to catch fire than a car with 20 gallons of a very inflammable liquid stored and pumped into a very hot engine block with electric wires all over the place. “The Guardian” notes Tesla’s calculation that fires in a gas powered car are 11 times more likely than in an EV, and data from Australia showed that gas cars were about 100 times more likely to catch fire. So, if you are worried about a car fire, get an EV.
The lack of chargers is a concern for potential EV buyers. While most charging is done at home, you need public chargers for trips over the range of your EV. “The Guardian” states that the worldwide number of chargers increased 55% in 2022, and while their focus is Europe, the number of chargers in the US is expanding at a similar pace. Money from the Infrastructure Bill and the Inflation Reduction Act is starting to be distributed, with 42 states just receiving grants from the US DOT CFI Program. And local residents will notice the construction of new chargers in front of Shaw’s in West Lebanon (slated for owners of Rivians, but soon to be open to all drivers.)
Finally, skeptics cite the high cost of EV’s often using the average price of about $59,000 as a benchmark. But the average price is pushed up by luxury EV’s, like high-end Teslas and Rivians. There are still three EV’s with base prices under $30,000 and many more under $40,000. Plus, many models qualify for a rebate up to $7500. Now that rebates can be applied at the time of purchase to lower the price of an EV and considering that EVs cost less to maintain over the life of the vehicle, an EV may be as affordable, if not more so, than its gas counterpart.
Don’t believe everything you hear from EV skeptics. There are always downsides to any new technology, and if one thing is clear, it is that we cannot continue to drive cars powered by fossil fuels. See all the articles from the Guardian countering myths and biased data about EVs: https://www.theguardian.com/business/series/ev-mythbusters