Getting behind the wheel of recent electrical autos has grow to be a signature transfer for self-proclaimed “automotive man” President Joe Biden. However his alternative of automotive has some local weather advocates hitting the brakes.
Biden has spent his presidency touting the way forward for electrical autos and even taking just a few for a spin, together with the Ford F-150 Lightning and Hummer EV.
These EVs have one massive factor in widespread: their batteries.
The Ford Lightning’s battery weighs 1,800 kilos, whereas the Hummer EV’s 2,923-pound battery alone weighs extra than a gasoline-powered Honda Civic. And that additional weight comes with some destructive penalties.
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For starters, heavier vehicles imply extra put on and tear on roads. The top of the Nationwide Transportation Security Board has additionally warned that massive EVs just like the Hummer might enhance the chance of great damage or loss of life for pedestrians and different drivers once they’re in accidents.
Then there are the local weather issues. Greater batteries require a whole lot of important minerals, which, for essentially the most half, are extracted utilizing fossil gasoline energy. It additionally takes much more electrical energy to energy these vehicles, and the electrical grid nonetheless depends closely on fossil fuels.
So whereas the Hummer EV might grow to be higher for the local weather when extra renewables come on-line, for now, it emits extra carbon per mile than essentially the most environment friendly gasoline-powered vehicles.
All these components have led some local weather advocates to name on the Biden administration and automakers to construct and promote smaller EVs. However others want to see federal funding go towards one other ignored local weather resolution: public transit.
