Surprised that more countries are not just doing a global push for more or total EV vehicles and banning ICE vehicles because of the fallout of the fuckhead who went to war, not war, with Iran.
edit I’m not just talking about EV vehicles but more adoption of solar panels, wind mills, geothermal power plant, etc.
You need the appropriate grid overhaul I would imagine to be able to sustain a sudden spike in EV adoption.
That electricity has to come from somewhere and that somewhere usually means fossil fuels or coal that’s transported on similar tankers that are also caught in the metaphorical and literal crossfire.
Solar adoption is already at an all-time high and accelerating, but that’s not equally available everywhere.
I’m no expert in any of this stuff, it’s just how I understand it from an armchair perspective. Feel free to chime in.
OTOH, even coal powered electricity is significantly less polluting than ICE cars, both in terms of co2 and in terms of not spewing particulates out in people’s faces.
The EVs are there for anyone to buy at this point, though plug-in hybrids are currently the best option.
You can do short commutes on battery power alone and you have an IC engine ready when needed.
Also if we force all EV manufacturers to adopt a standard for homes to be able to use their cars as back-up power, or generally for the grid to be able to utilize plugged-in EVs with over 80% capacity to feed back into the grid when required, that could solve most of the problems but it soulds like a nightmare to implement from an engineering standpoint.
Edit: this post describes the benefits and challenges.
Best option by what metric? Plugin hybrids come with a unique set of issues that neither EV nor pure ICE have. Exactly because you’ll do all your short commutes on battery.
Exhausts literally rust through because they don’t get used enough to clear out all the condensation that develops. Flooring it when you need to accelerate suddenly will cause a cold ICE to come on and take a heavy load without the oil being warmed up, etc.
I’m considering a few too, but I’m not exactly going to pretend they don’t have whole new issues.
though plug-in hybrids are currently the best option.
no, they are the worst of both worlds, a smaller battery lugging around an ICE drivetrain, an ICE drivetrain lugging around a heavy battery, and double the complications.
Most people don’t plug their PHEV and fuel usage becomes horrendous
I dunno. Straight up hybrids are superior to ice vehicles, but plug in hybrids seem super niche.
I rented a jeep 4xe and the battery only mode would only go about 10-20 miles - I’m not super far from work, but it’s still double that range. And the default software mode was to consume all the battery then only recharge like a normal hybrid (e.g. keeping the battery at basically empty).
Plus the mileage wasn’t much better because it was lugging around the battery pack.
Even with transmission losses and even if you powered them solely with fossil fuels, aren’t the electric drivetrains and power plants still so much more efficient that you still reduce fossil fuel use by burning it at a power plant instead of ICE motor?
Ethiopia is special in that they have immense hydro power capacity, and are building more. For them, energy independence means electrified transport, rather than powering transportation from imported fossil fuels.
the only place where you can get green tech that’s both scalable and affordable like this is china and the entire global north and its periphery is united in preventing this green tech from getting into our hands to various levels.
Surprised that more countries are not just doing a global push for more or total EV vehicles and banning ICE vehicles because of the fallout of the fuckhead who went to war, not war, with Iran.
edit I’m not just talking about EV vehicles but more adoption of solar panels, wind mills, geothermal power plant, etc.
You need the appropriate grid overhaul I would imagine to be able to sustain a sudden spike in EV adoption.
That electricity has to come from somewhere and that somewhere usually means fossil fuels or coal that’s transported on similar tankers that are also caught in the metaphorical and literal crossfire.
Solar adoption is already at an all-time high and accelerating, but that’s not equally available everywhere.
I’m no expert in any of this stuff, it’s just how I understand it from an armchair perspective. Feel free to chime in.
OTOH, even coal powered electricity is significantly less polluting than ICE cars, both in terms of co2 and in terms of not spewing particulates out in people’s faces.
That’s always how it is though? Can’t have EVs because not enough electricity, won’t build green electricity because not enough EVs.
The EVs are there for anyone to buy at this point, though plug-in hybrids are currently the best option.
You can do short commutes on battery power alone and you have an IC engine ready when needed.
Also if we force all EV manufacturers to adopt a standard for homes to be able to use their cars as back-up power, or generally for the grid to be able to utilize plugged-in EVs with over 80% capacity to feed back into the grid when required, that could solve most of the problems but it soulds like a nightmare to implement from an engineering standpoint.
Edit: this post describes the benefits and challenges.
https://www.elli.eco/en/about-elli/news/newsroom/vehicle-to-grid-how-electric-vehicles-are-becoming-a-key-pillar-of-the-energy-transition
Best option by what metric? Plugin hybrids come with a unique set of issues that neither EV nor pure ICE have. Exactly because you’ll do all your short commutes on battery.
Exhausts literally rust through because they don’t get used enough to clear out all the condensation that develops. Flooring it when you need to accelerate suddenly will cause a cold ICE to come on and take a heavy load without the oil being warmed up, etc.
I’m considering a few too, but I’m not exactly going to pretend they don’t have whole new issues.
no, they are the worst of both worlds, a smaller battery lugging around an ICE drivetrain, an ICE drivetrain lugging around a heavy battery, and double the complications.
Most people don’t plug their PHEV and fuel usage becomes horrendous
Fuck PHEVs
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/feb/18/plug-in-hybrids-use-three-times-more-fuel-than-manufacturers-claim-analysis-finds
I dunno. Straight up hybrids are superior to ice vehicles, but plug in hybrids seem super niche.
I rented a jeep 4xe and the battery only mode would only go about 10-20 miles - I’m not super far from work, but it’s still double that range. And the default software mode was to consume all the battery then only recharge like a normal hybrid (e.g. keeping the battery at basically empty).
Plus the mileage wasn’t much better because it was lugging around the battery pack.
Even with transmission losses and even if you powered them solely with fossil fuels, aren’t the electric drivetrains and power plants still so much more efficient that you still reduce fossil fuel use by burning it at a power plant instead of ICE motor?
Eh, EVs make sense to charge when parked at home or work, where you can have solar panels within 1 km (so very little loss over distance).
What percent of the country’s roofs are covered with solar panels? 5%?
The solution is pretty easy. Solar panels are stupid cheap these days.
Ethiopia did it.
But grid tied EV busses make more sense than EV cars.
Ethiopia is special in that they have immense hydro power capacity, and are building more. For them, energy independence means electrified transport, rather than powering transportation from imported fossil fuels.
Okay I’m sorry to be that guy, but wind mills are used to grind stuff, like grains into flour. You mean wind turbines/generators.
no no, we grind the grains then we burn it for energy
I think I’m burning about 2500 calories per day of grain and similar substances.
the only place where you can get green tech that’s both scalable and affordable like this is china and the entire global north and its periphery is united in preventing this green tech from getting into our hands to various levels.