How clean are EVs?

nice job. not only that, but they can become cleaner, where gas is pretty much at the limit

 

home solar powered (many owners operate that way) & in ~3½ yrs, it's already blown away the other clean cars - carbon wise. That doesn't even consider cheaper maintenance & fuel being less.
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Based on the latest version of Argonne National Laboratory's GREET model (GREET_2018), the default 2019 long-range BEV (nominally 300 miles/charge) using West Virginia's electricity grid mix and the Model 3's MPGe estimate will offset the higher GHG emissions of the BEV's manufacturing phase in about 45,000 miles versus the default SIDI (GDI) 2019 gasoline vehicle and the Camry's MPG estimate, so that seems to agree reasonably well, depending on how many miles/year are assumed in the video.

Note the fueleconomy web site uses a much older versions of GREET to estimate upstream emissions (GREET 1.8 according to the footnote in the "Energy and Environment" tab on that site). GREET has been updated at least seven times since GREET 1.8.

 

I played around with the spreadsheet they provided to get a feel for where a used Prius would fit. Well, according to their spreadsheet, a used Prius will be overtaken by a Tesla M3 CA + Solar in about 8 years, CA without solar in 13 years and WV off the 15 year chart.

I'll stick to a used Prius to save the planet.

 

agreed, but the spread will widen as tech advances.

 

Ugh, I don't have time to study, but my concern is if we actaully knew Tesla's secret data on how many KWhr's they are using, it would be way more electric consumption than we are expecting. But Telsa's is probably not the high bar on KWhr/mile efficiency.

 

Agreed, but if the time window is under 8 years it's irrelevant.

 

maybe less too. Have you seen how black their gigafactory rooftop is with the Acres of solar panels on top & elsewhere?

 

"gas is pretty much at the limit" @2. I do not entirely agree that this is a bad thing. It means that technology is in hand. Computer-controlled combustion and catalysts before tailpipe.

Separate but related, manufacturing and maintenance technologies and infrastructures are in hand. If desired, 100 million new, small gasoline vehicles could be built, which would handle demand growth while battery capacity and scalability issues get sorted out.

It certainly remains possible to do gasoline vehicles wrong, which I assert means large and powerful beyond practicality. Where emphasis is misplaced towards personal adornment and front-end profits.

It seems improbable that doubling fleet fuel efficiency will accompany doubling fleet size. So, petroleum extraction, refinery emissions and CO2 end products will all increase. Those are obvious downsides. In my view, those can be held down by making another generation of efficient gasoline appliances while their electrical successors grow out of their niche.

 

Physical design of gassers and electrics (so far) seem quite different. This would stand in the way of developing a gasser that could get a replacement electric powertrain during its lifespan. But such a design could help with longevity of efficient gassers; an area where they have arguably not yet reached limits.

 

Absolutely. Hybrid vehicles occupy that other (why not both?) area of mobility transformation. Our main topic of discussion here for ~14 years.

Global fleet now stands at about 1 billion, and 100 million growth while electric and hybrid technologies improve is not overstated.

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Can't avoid commenting on non-technological changes in hybrids (e.g. Prius). Styling with aggressive-edgy-cool steel and plastic stampings front and rear. In the long run those will seem like 1950's tail fins I expect.

BMW i3Rex is relatively mellow in that regard

 

some feel it has helped to decrease sales

 

I'd agree this is the point of vehicle styling. A grumpier person would say it represents vehicle buyers en masse announcing how silly they are. But I'm not that grumpy.

I mean, not every single day.

 

given that the best sergers in the u.s. are pickup trucks and crossovers, it's tough to compete either way.

new rav4h may be the breakthrough

 

US vehicle buyers serge in a most delightfully silly way. For the most part.

 

most go for the best bang for the buck. housing is similar. the biggest house for the money has been all the rage for the past 20-30 years, maybe longer.

 

Yes, but equating biggest bang with best bang does a disservice to some very nice smaller bangs.

Clearly companies can stamp out large steel shells and fill them with cupholders and declare success.

 

clearly. what are we going to do about it?