It's not as Wonderful as They Claim

I just don't get why everyone seems to think electric vehicles are going to save the world.  There are a lot of issues that seem to be ignored because it's still easier to ignore all the facts just to appear like their interests lie with what's best for the world.  The truth is though, they really only care about their bottom line...

So what is it that I'm talking about?  Electric vehicles.  I'm not someone who doesn't believe that there is a place for electric vehicles, just that they aren't the be-all end-all some people want you to believe they are.  I have a couple of reason why I don't think they are the answer to global warming:

1. The batteries used are a bomb just waiting to go off.  Don't believe me?  They are lithium-ion batteries, the same type that caused many serious injuries when there were issues with the Samsung Note 7.  Sure, nothing has happened yet.  But yet is the key.  Samsung's research showed that the issue was in part that the battery was too large for the space meaning that any minor flex to the case of the phone could cause a chain reaction to start.  These batteries not only burn extremely hot but they also release toxic fumes.  Do you want to be sitting on that?  I don't.
2. Next is again about the batteries.  There are limits to the number of times they can be charged.  That means they need to be replaced on a regular basis.  I'm not sure how recyclable they are as it isn't advertised.  Makes me wonder if they even are recyclable.  And if they are, how much pollution is released during that process?  Last point on this, these batteries are a specific shape and size.  The assumption you need to make is that 10 or more times down the road, someone will still be making one that fits.  What are the odds of that happening?
3. Let's move on to what has been termed as "range anxiety."  Even the most efficient of these vehicles gets a maximum of 200 miles on a charge.  That may sound really great except when you consider that the stated range is under ideal conditions.  That range will drop drastically if you are running the heater or air conditioning for long periods of time.  And how about that stop and go traffic on the way to work?  You won't recover enough energy through braking or through any solar panels on the car itself to balance what you are using.  That means you have to watch you're charge so that you aren't sitting in the middle of the freeway in a car that can't move.  But what makes that worse is that is on the way to the office.  You then have to worry again on the way home.  My commute is 35 miles one way and I'm lucky enough to work in a situation where I can, for the most part, choose my hours.  That means I can work avoid heavy traffic, most Americans can't do that.  Look at the very large cities in the US, that 35 mile commute that takes me 40-50 minutes could take several hours.  That isn't something where a battery powered vehicle would give me comfort that I would make it to my destination.
4. And how about charging those batteries?  Even with the so called "superchargers" it takes nearly an hour to charge the batteries.  And you it's recommended that you limit the number of times that you use then as it isn't good for the batteries (back tot he first point there).  I'm the type of person that would rather drive somewhere than fly, and I know I'm not the only one.  If I can only go 200 miles at a time, then I have to spend 45 minute waiting for the battery to charge, it will take me 2 weeks to go across the country.  And that's only 1 way!  I suppose the hotel and restaurant industry would love it since it would mean you would be staying in more hotels and eating out more often in theory.  But in reality it means that either more people will fly (which isn't electric) or stay at home.
5. The idea behind electric vehicles is that they reduce emissions and greenhouse gases.  While it is true that they produce no emissions, but that isn't necessarily true for the generation of electricity.  Here in the United States, 65% of electricity is generated by burning coal.  Those aren't really something that is necessarily clean burning.  How about nuclear you say?  While it is true that they don't produce greenhouse gases, there are major issues with that beginning with the fact that they work by heating water.  That heat has to go somewhere, it's just released into the atmosphere.  If you don't believe that is assisting in the global warming issue, I'd like to know how things work in your world.  In my world of science, the heat has to go somewhere.  And that doesn't even account for the spent fuel rods.  They are radioactive for much longer than anyone reading this will live.  So that isn't a very environmentally friendly option.  The next option is solar.  While that may work in an area such as California, the idea has issues in an area like the northeast area of the United States.  We don't get a sunshine every day for weeks at a time.  In fact, we get somewhere around 50% of the potential.  That's not enough to charge a car unless you are covering a very large area.  And that takes away from plant-life.  It doesn't matter if those plants are from a farm or forest, plants produce oxygen.  Keep taking them away and we'll run out of oxygen.  So perhaps you are thinking hydro-electric dams are the answer.  There is a huge impact on the environment when a dam is built.  A reservoir takes away land from plants and animals.  Above and beyond that, they are a potential disaster since downstream from the dam will be developed.  If the dam breaks there will be major issues.  So what about wind energy?  Well, it does appear to be a good option.  However, it takes a lot of windmills to produce a significant about of energy.  And those windmills have to be monitored because if the wind is too strong it can topple the mills over.  And, as with the issue with solar, you need to take up a lot of land and keep it clear for them to operate.  But if you believe that these won't have an effect on the atmospheric winds, I'd again like to know how you world of science works.  Try it with a simple fan and a pinwheel.  Turn the fan on and point it at your face.  Notice the strength of the breeze, then put the pinwheel in between the fan and your face.  There will be less of a breeze on your face than there was before.

The next thing that I want to point out is regarding livestock.  It seems high to me, and I can't find the article right now, but I once read that as much as 90% of greenhouse gases come from livestock.  That's right, the animals that we feed on produce a lot of methane.  That study was released with the concept of cloning meat rather than raising animals for meat, so I believe it is very high.  Other studies put it at around 50% which seems a bit more reasonable to me.  But either way, why aren't we looking into doing something about that such as capturing at least some of that gas and re-purposing it?  Instead, politicians see an easy way to get a vote and businesses see an easy way to make some serious money.

So what do I propose?  There is a process to produce crude oil from garbage, but it was always considered to be too expensive of a process to pursue.  We have a massive issue with waste as humans and at some point, we aren't going to have any place to continue to create landfills.  Just plain burning it has reduced the amount going into the landfills drastically.  Now that oil has increased tremendously, this may be a process that we need to look into.  This way we would reduce what we are putting into landfills even further.  Then, as technology progresses and the internal combustion engine is replaced by something better for the environment, that crude oil can be used for other things such as heating oil for homes.

Electrically powered vehicles may be fine for commuting back and forth to work for some people, but certainly not for all.  As I said at the beginning, they aren't the miracle solution everyone wants you to believe they are.  Global warming is a concern, but the internal combustion engine is just a small piece of the puzzle.  If you truly want to stop global warming (personally, I don't think you can as it's been warming since the last ice age ended) we would need to give up every technological advance that humans have made.  Electricity, heating and cooling of building, cars, manufacturing plants, and large scale farms are just the beginning of what we would need to eliminate.  Cars are just an easy target...