helpmyusernamewontfiJan 21, 2024

Do EV's actually do anything beneficial for the planet?

https://lemmy.today/post/5485571

Do EV's actually do anything beneficial for the planet? - Lemmy Today

I’ve seen a lot of posts here on Lemmy, specifically in the “fuck cars” communities as to how Electric Vehicles do pretty much nothing for the Climate, but I continue to see Climate activists everywhere try pushing so, so hard for Electric Vehicles. Do they actually have benefits other than limiting exhaust, or is it all just a myth?

Show threadGM_Guy_0013Jan 22, 2024
The biggest hurdle that needs to be overcome in my own eyes is how we source the precious metals for the batteries. Look up Lithium and Cobalt mines in Africa. Of course this applies to all lithium batteries (phones and cars being the biggest players).
Show threadghu
Sodium-ion batteries are already a thing and they look very promising. A few more years and we might not need precious metals for batteries anymore.
Jan 22, 2024 at 3:03amWeb
Show threadGM_Guy_0013Jan 22, 2024
Interesting. I’ve not heard of this new battery technology before. Sodium should be much more easily sourced I would think. We’ll see, but for the meantime I’ll hang onto my phone as long as possible and not buy lithium battery powered vehicles. Most people don’t know about the working conditions that those children and adults are exposed to while mining lithium and Cobalt.
Show threadScrubblesJan 22, 2024

ICE vehicles are no better for mining and labor, it’s just a talking point at this point to try to make people buying EVs feel stupid. Like oil companies don’t have blood on their hands and we haven’t literally started multiple wars over oil

Manufacturing as a whole is terrible. Fact is if you buy anything there will be ethical concerns. At least with an EV once the purchase is done you won’t be continuing to poison the planet with fumes.