This is just a location to share “news & views” which pertain to the myth of “clean mobility” technology, such as electric cars. This space will be continually updated. If you’d like to submit an article link you can post it in the comments below.
Jeep's CEO doesn't think there are enough raw materials on earth to meet electric-car demand
Excerpt:
“Tavares said the 1.3 billion gas-powered cars on the roads need to be replaced with "clean mobility."
"That will need a lot of lithium," he said, according to The Detroit News. "Not only the lithium may not be enough, but the concentration of the mining of lithium may create other geopolitical issues."
There are so many things not right about the premise that electric cars are an example of “clean mobility”. But it’s good that a car manufacturer’s CEO acknowledges, at least, that there won’t be enough rare and scarce metals and minerals to replace anywhere near all of the cars now on the road. That’s a start!
— More stories of this kind will be linked to here soon. —
Okay, here’s another one.:
I love electric vehicles – and was an early adopter. But increasingly I feel duped | Rowan Atkinson | The Guardian (Posted June 3, 2023)
Here's my vision: we DO replace a lot of our current ICE vehicles with electric models. But the new electric vehicles are not massive vehicles able to go 80 mph uphill--that's an indulgence the planet cannot afford. It would require resources which would thus deprive the poor and future people of more basic amenities. What if we instead made microcars, which could safely travel the same roads as bikes and e-bikes and pedestrians (as long as the behemoths are banned) but would have the additional benefits of keeping rain off occupants, transporting handicapped or elderly people, enable people to carry a couple of kids or a small load, enable people to arrive at work not all sweaty. But could only go maybe 20 MPH. We don't need to be able to go faster than that. Maybe cities could have a few major streets reserved for the behemoths, so that those wanting to travel in large groups or carry large loads could still get within a few blocks of their destination. Attempting to replace today's oversized (in both numbers and unit size) vehicles with electric versions would only ramp up the assault on our only planet; forgoing that to just maintain BAU would do the same.. I'm afraid this approach will not get traction while the resources to enable it still exist--by the time its necessity is recognized, the fleets of both ICE and e-vehicles will be marooned for lack of fuel and there won't be any for microcars, perhaps even for e-bikes--so it will be feet, hooves (where the climate allows the maintenance of horses) and hopefully, bicycles.