The transition

Mr. Coffee said:
Largely because of the simple fact that one huge fire (e.g. in a coal plant) is much more efficient than millions of tiny fires in engines all over the place, an EV even running off of fossil fuels is about twice as efficient end-to-end as a fossil burner. This is basic thermodynamics.
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I wouldn't like you to educate me -- a professional process engineer -- what the thermodynamics is. The amount of energy to propel all the cars, buses and lorries is the same regardless of the fuel. That amount is affected by the efficiency, which manifests itself in so many places in the chain.

The only difference between millions of well contained ICE fires (think of cleaner and cleaner fuel and the catalyst in the exhaust) and a smaller number of powerplant fires is the distribution of the emission. If all powerplants were fired with fossil fuel, the difference in the amount of the emission would mainly depend on the overall efficiency of each chain. Well, if all powerplants were nuclear and the rest of the electricity came from solar, wind, or hydro, the situation would be different. As is is now, it is only shifting the emission from distributed to concentrated.

Mr. Coffee said:
And even an EV that is charged on electrons from fossil fuels produces much lower emissions than a straight up dinosaur burning car.
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A hybrid car is one of the inventions that drastically improves the efficiency, which is demonstrated by a way less fuel consumption, especially in the urban traffic (where the pollution is the most dire). Electric cars only help reducing the pollution from the large urban areas but the emission is shifted elsewhere.

Mr. Coffee said:
It is going to be easier and cheaper to rebuild the supply chains for those materials than it is going to be to rebuild the equivalent petroleum supply chain.
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Why to rebuild something if the petroleum infrastructure is already there?
Mr. Coffee said:
And modern (post COVID) EV batteries have about a 0.2 percent failure rate, compared to a 2 percent failure rate for ICE engines in recent years.
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Would you buy a 10 year old electric car? Would you be able to resell it later?
 
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Yes, I have. More like 15 yo. And a sweet ebike it is:
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I would not buy a ten-year-old bike that had any electronic wizbangs like 2016 DI-2, or was carbon, or had a proprietary motor system. I would buy a steel frame that was in great condition for conversion, like a Surley. Or maybe a slightly used Yuba cargo bike for a conversion. I would spend about $700 for a bike that could then outrun and outlast anything commercial from stores, and would be all open source. With the right to repair.
 
Stefan Mikes said:
Did you buy it 5 years ago or are you the first owner?
Is it a conversion or an e-bike right from the factory?
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I bought it 2 years ago from a non-profit bicycle recycler. As such, I assume I am the third owner. It's like a 2010 Giant Twist Freedom.
By todays standard it's not much, but it rides well. Kind of a smile-on-your-face bicycle experience.
 
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