Relax, Electric Vehicles Really Are the Best Choice for the Climate

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https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/24/opinion/electric-vehicle-tesla-hybrid.html

By Stephen Porder, The New York Times, opinion piece. 

Excerpt: ...I am familiar with trepidation about electric vehicles; ...worry about running out of battery power far from a charging station; ...the upfront costs... though the E.V. has a lower total cost over the life of the car. ...Those concerns will likely diminish in 2024 as money from the Inflation Reduction Act flows into building more charging stations and making discounts for electric vehicles available right at the dealership. ...while there are environmental concerns with [electric vehicles], they are dwarfed by the benefit they provide regarding climate change. ...Cobalt, another key component of batteries, has been in the public eye because of its scarcity and the horrific working conditions for miners in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Those conditions need to be addressed, but it’s a mistake to view them in isolation. Oil extraction has its own horrific human and environmental costs, as does climate change. ...Happily, an increasing number of E.V.s, including those of Tesla and the Chinese automaker BYD, no longer use cobalt in their batteries in most markets because the performance of cobalt-free alternatives is rapidly improving. Within a decade, many batteries may be built with sodium in place of lithium. ...anyone who has already switched to an electric vehicle knows it is more fun to drive, and saves time. ...And because electric vehicles have fewer parts — no gas tank, no exhaust system, no catalytic converter, no radiator, no fuel injector, no timing belt — downtime for repairs is practically eliminated.... 

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