Archive:000/Electric cars: Difference between revisions
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# | This page is about passenger-owned electric vehicles (cars, vans, pickup trucks, etc). For commercial semi trucks, see the page on [[electric trucks]]. For passenger buses, see [[electric buses]]. | ||
{{considerations}} | |||
About 1% of today's cars are electric<sup>[USA, 2023]</sup> - the rest run on gasoline which causes [[climate change]]. | |||
==Types== | |||
* Battery electric vehicles (most common today) | |||
* [[Fuel cell vehicles]] (very few models on the market today) | |||
==Considerations== | |||
===Battery minerals=== | |||
{{sum|Currently a problem|bad}} | |||
The vast majority of today's electric cars store their energy in [[lithium-ion batteries]], which contain too much cobalt to scale up. {{x|Cobalt mineral reserves would be depleted early-on, and the majority of cars would remain gasoline-based, even with desperate attempts at obtaining more cobalt such as strip-mining the ocean floor. See page on [[lithium-ion batteries]] for maths related to this.}} Lithium is also somewhat scarce and could be also be an issue. | |||
Every once and awhile there's some news article about some company researching / developing / investing in some battery type that will supposedly be as energy-dense as lithium-ion. But there's no guarantee it'll happen in the near future, and if it does, it'll probably be expensive. | |||
Scarcity may also be an issue for [[hydrogen]] fuel cell vehicles (which depend on platinum-group metals). | |||
If car buyers are willing to compromise (settle for [[short-range electric vehicles|less ''range'']]), electric cars could be made with other battery types{{x|such as [[sodium-ion]], or somewhat less ideally [[lithium iron phosphate]]}} that are more sustainable/scalable. The main selling point is that they would be cheaper. {{qn}} | |||
<!-- TALK: work this in somewhere? or put it in [[energy storage#types]] or [[the great battery challenge]] idk | |||
* [[lithium iron phosphate]] (somewhat more scalable) | |||
* [[lithium-sulfur]] (somewhat more scalable) | |||
* [[sodium-sulfur]] (much more scalable & sustainable) | |||
* [[sodium-ion]] (much more scalable & sustainable) | |||
--> | |||
===Energy sources=== | |||
{{sum|Not green enough yet}} | |||
If the electricity comes from [[fossil fuels]], electric cars are [[electric vehicles/fossil fuel powered|barely any better than gasoline cars]] when it comes to carbon emissions. | |||
In most parts of the world today, electricity is generated from [[fossil fuels]]. {{x|Consider that [[hydro]] and [[geothermal]] power are only available in a few geographic locations; [[conventional nuclear power]] is limited by scarcity of uranium-235; [[biomass waste]] energy is in extremely low supply. Whenever the local capacity of renewables is exceeded, fossil fuels make up the difference.}} For electric vehicles to save the environment, we're going to need a lot more [[solar]] and [[wind]] (which comes with other [[solar/challenge 1|challenges]]), or [[thorium|other kinds of nuclear]]. | |||
<!-- TODO: make a map of where in the world are hydro & geothermal power available and not already at maxed-out capacity --> | |||
===Availability of charging=== | |||
{{sum|Ongoing progress}} | |||
{{empty}} | |||
===Rare-earth magnets=== | |||
{{sum|Reasonable}} | |||
Efficient motors need strong magnets, which can only be made with a certain amount of rare-earth minerals. Luckily, it turns out that we ''wouldn't'' run out of rare-earth minerals ''even if'' all cars were electric and all energy came from [[wind]]. {{pn|TODO: Add the calculation/research that led to this statement.}} | |||
==See also== | |||
* [[Public transit]] - another approach | |||
* [[Walkability]] - another approach | |||
Revision as of 16:39, 30 August 2023
This page is about passenger-owned electric vehicles (cars, vans, pickup trucks, etc). For commercial semi trucks, see the page on electric trucks. For passenger buses, see electric buses.
About 1% of today's cars are electric[USA, 2023] - the rest run on gasoline which causes climate change.
Types
- Battery electric vehicles (most common today)
- Fuel cell vehicles (very few models on the market today)
Considerations
Battery minerals
The vast majority of today's electric cars store their energy in lithium-ion batteries, which contain too much cobalt to scale up.
Every once and awhile there's some news article about some company researching / developing / investing in some battery type that will supposedly be as energy-dense as lithium-ion. But there's no guarantee it'll happen in the near future, and if it does, it'll probably be expensive.
Scarcity may also be an issue for hydrogen fuel cell vehicles (which depend on platinum-group metals).
If car buyers are willing to compromise (settle for less range), electric cars could be made with other battery types
Energy sources
If the electricity comes from fossil fuels, electric cars are barely any better than gasoline cars when it comes to carbon emissions.
In most parts of the world today, electricity is generated from fossil fuels.
Availability of charging
This section has not been filled in yet.
Rare-earth magnets
Efficient motors need strong magnets, which can only be made with a certain amount of rare-earth minerals. Luckily, it turns out that we wouldn't run out of rare-earth minerals even if all cars were electric and all energy came from wind. TODO: Add the calculation/research that led to this statement.
See also
- Public transit - another approach
- Walkability - another approach