Electric Vehicles

The Arithmetic of Sustainability ← Series Home The vast appetite of affluent societies, quantified as the “red stack” of consumption—approximately 125 kWh per day per person in Britain—is overwhelmingly fueled by transport and heating. For the typical car driver, road transport alone consumes about 40 kWh per day. Successfully migrating away from fossil fuels and achieving the drastic emissions reductions required (potentially greater than 85% for Britain) demands a fundamental, numerically sound strategy for tackling this consumption pillar. ...

The Arithmetic of Sustainability ← Series Home The preceding analysis has established the contours of a sustainable energy supply for Britain: a mix of indigenous renewables (wind, tide, solar thermal), imported solar power, and dense nuclear fission. However, the arithmetic of generation is only half the challenge. Electricity from fluctuating sources (wind, solar) does not always match the moment-to-moment demand of consumers and industry. ...

Evolution: The Birth and Development of Motion Pictures ← Series Home Key Takeaways GM's EV1 (1996): Demonstrated electric vehicle viability but was controversially discontinued and crushed. Tesla's Roadster (2008): Proved EVs could be desirable, high-performance vehicles, not just eco-compromises. Dieselgate (2015): Crushed diesel's reputation and accelerated the shift toward electric vehicles. Battery technology: Advances dramatically reduced costs and extended range, making EVs practical. Government policies: Environmental concerns are rapidly accelerating EV adoption globally. For over a century, the internal combustion engine dominated automotive transportation. Gasoline and diesel engines became so refined, so embedded in infrastructure and culture, that alternatives seemed impossible. But environmental pressures, technological breakthroughs, and visionary entrepreneurs are now rewriting automotive history. ...

In 2014, while Tesla sold 35,000 cars and the world debated whether electric vehicles would ever go mainstream, China quietly achieved something extraordinary: 200 million electric two-wheelers on its roads. No subsidies. No government mandates. No involvement from any major automaker. The traditional car industry didn’t notice. They were too busy perfecting a business model that hadn’t fundamentally changed since 1914. That blind spot tells you everything about why the automotive industry’s $3 trillion transformation might fail. ...

Beyond the Tailpipe: Unmasking the EV Revolution 1 Beyond the Tailpipe: Unmasking the EV Revolution - Part 1: The Electric Lie? Unpacking the Hidden Carbon Cost of Manufacturing Your EV Battery 2 Beyond the Tailpipe: Unmasking the EV Revolution - Part 2: From Congo to Charger: Who Really Pays the Price for Clean Driving? 3 Beyond the Tailpipe: Unmasking the EV Revolution - Part 3: Subsidies, Sprawl, and $7.5 Billion: The True Cost of Electric Adoption 4 Beyond the Tailpipe: Unmasking the EV Revolution - Part 4: The Real Climate Fix: Why Better Buses Beat Buying a New Electric Car 5 Beyond the Tailpipe: Unmasking the EV Revolution - Part 5: The Road Ahead: How Better Batteries and Smarter Grids Can Deliver the EV Promise ← Series Home Electric vehicles (EVs) offer a clear path toward reducing operational greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, but the preceding analysis revealed severe systemic limitations. The current EV paradigm suffers from a high upfront carbon debt, critical mineral resource scarcity, and immense strain on electricity grids. EVs are not a “silver bullet” solution to the environmental crisis, but they remain an important transitional technology. Delivering the environmental promise of EVs requires fundamental innovation that addresses these structural flaws. Future sustainability depends on accelerated development in battery technology, the circular economy, intelligent grid management, and robust policy frameworks. ...

Beyond the Tailpipe: Unmasking the EV Revolution 1 Beyond the Tailpipe: Unmasking the EV Revolution - Part 1: The Electric Lie? Unpacking the Hidden Carbon Cost of Manufacturing Your EV Battery 2 Beyond the Tailpipe: Unmasking the EV Revolution - Part 2: From Congo to Charger: Who Really Pays the Price for Clean Driving? 3 Beyond the Tailpipe: Unmasking the EV Revolution - Part 3: Subsidies, Sprawl, and $7.5 Billion: The True Cost of Electric Adoption 4 Beyond the Tailpipe: Unmasking the EV Revolution - Part 4: The Real Climate Fix: Why Better Buses Beat Buying a New Electric Car 5 Beyond the Tailpipe: Unmasking the EV Revolution - Part 5: The Road Ahead: How Better Batteries and Smarter Grids Can Deliver the EV Promise ← Series Home The push for electric vehicle (EV) adoption often positions electrification as the primary solution for transportation decarbonization. This perspective assumes that replacing every internal combustion engine vehicle (ICEV) with an electric equivalent is the optimal economic and environmental strategy. However, this “replacement fallacy” risks ignoring the fundamental causes of transportation unsustainability. Genuine sustainability requires addressing systemic issues like overconsumption and inefficient urban design. A comprehensive strategy must prioritize modal shift and demand reduction, meaning better public transportation and walkable cities offer a stronger climate fix than mass private EV ownership. ...

Beyond the Tailpipe: Unmasking the EV Revolution 1 Beyond the Tailpipe: Unmasking the EV Revolution - Part 1: The Electric Lie? Unpacking the Hidden Carbon Cost of Manufacturing Your EV Battery 2 Beyond the Tailpipe: Unmasking the EV Revolution - Part 2: From Congo to Charger: Who Really Pays the Price for Clean Driving? 3 Beyond the Tailpipe: Unmasking the EV Revolution - Part 3: Subsidies, Sprawl, and $7.5 Billion: The True Cost of Electric Adoption 4 Beyond the Tailpipe: Unmasking the EV Revolution - Part 4: The Real Climate Fix: Why Better Buses Beat Buying a New Electric Car 5 Beyond the Tailpipe: Unmasking the EV Revolution - Part 5: The Road Ahead: How Better Batteries and Smarter Grids Can Deliver the EV Promise ← Series Home Electric vehicles (EVs) often promise lower operating expenses, but the economic analysis must extend beyond the individual owner’s wallet. A comprehensive view examines the “total cost of adopting an EV,” which includes the substantial financial burdens borne by society and governments. This societal cost includes massive infrastructure investments, future fiscal crises, and highly regressive public subsidies. The current financial model for mass EV adoption relies heavily on socializing infrastructure costs while privatizing benefits for affluent users. ...

Beyond the Tailpipe: Unmasking the EV Revolution 1 Beyond the Tailpipe: Unmasking the EV Revolution - Part 1: The Electric Lie? Unpacking the Hidden Carbon Cost of Manufacturing Your EV Battery 2 Beyond the Tailpipe: Unmasking the EV Revolution - Part 2: From Congo to Charger: Who Really Pays the Price for Clean Driving? 3 Beyond the Tailpipe: Unmasking the EV Revolution - Part 3: Subsidies, Sprawl, and $7.5 Billion: The True Cost of Electric Adoption 4 Beyond the Tailpipe: Unmasking the EV Revolution - Part 4: The Real Climate Fix: Why Better Buses Beat Buying a New Electric Car 5 Beyond the Tailpipe: Unmasking the EV Revolution - Part 5: The Road Ahead: How Better Batteries and Smarter Grids Can Deliver the EV Promise ← Series Home 70% Global cobalt production concentrated in DRC ...

Beyond the Tailpipe: Unmasking the EV Revolution 1 Beyond the Tailpipe: Unmasking the EV Revolution - Part 1: The Electric Lie? Unpacking the Hidden Carbon Cost of Manufacturing Your EV Battery 2 Beyond the Tailpipe: Unmasking the EV Revolution - Part 2: From Congo to Charger: Who Really Pays the Price for Clean Driving? 3 Beyond the Tailpipe: Unmasking the EV Revolution - Part 3: Subsidies, Sprawl, and $7.5 Billion: The True Cost of Electric Adoption 4 Beyond the Tailpipe: Unmasking the EV Revolution - Part 4: The Real Climate Fix: Why Better Buses Beat Buying a New Electric Car 5 Beyond the Tailpipe: Unmasking the EV Revolution - Part 5: The Road Ahead: How Better Batteries and Smarter Grids Can Deliver the EV Promise ← Series Home 50% Higher environmental impact of EV production vs ICE vehicles ...

The Arithmetic of Decarburization: A Hard Look at the Energy Revolution ← Series Home The Integration Challenge Previous installments established that Austria could, in principle, generate 165 TWh of renewable electricity annually—enough for full decarbonization. But generating enough energy on average is not the same as having enough energy at every moment. The fundamental challenge of high-renewable systems is temporal mismatch: supply and demand rarely align perfectly, and the gap must be bridged by storage, demand flexibility, or interconnections. ...