Viking_HippieOnce beset by pollution, Beijing's skies are clearer than ever thanks to EVs
Wondering if the air will actually be better for humans though. There’s a lot more particles being ripped from the roads with these heavier EVs, and road particles are quite toxic as far as I understand, so not great. But yeah, great to have clear skies.
I’d imagine the amount of road particles ripped up is less than the amount of CO~2~, NO~x~, ozone and other pollutants and fine particles emitted by combustion engines, but I’m no expert. Only time will tell, but at least short-term the results seem positive.
Less maybe, but probably more toxic than carbon dioxide, which isn’t really dangerous per se.
There’s more than just CO~2~ coming from combustion engines though, like nitrogen and sulfur containing compounds, which can in turn cause secondary pollution. Cumulatively, I think those pollutants have a bigger effect on human health than the road particles. Also, these road particles still get ripped up by regular cars, even if it’s to a lesser extent. So overall I’m still convinced that EVs are a step in the right direction. We can’t know for sure until more studies are performed.
Do we have documentation on how/what their roads are made of?
The majority of wear on roads by far comes from trucks and busses.
Personal vehicles are almost negligible in comparison, regardless of what engine they’re using.
bufalo1973MGS5 EV -> 1650 Kg
MG ZS gasoline -> 1250
Not that different. And you have to add another 50 - 80 L of gasoline¹ to make it even.
¹ the size of the tank is not shown in the specs.
30% difference or so. Pretty big difference IMO.
My compact SUV Volvo EX40 has a 2,100+ kg curb weight.
Imagine this though: all the cars in the world switch from gas to electric, and on average add 30% of weight to every vehicle (which does seem like the normal increase). Wouldn’t that equate to adding, like, "X number of 18-wheelers’ to the roads, wear and tear wise? Or does it not work like that?
queermunist she/herThe road particles are heavier, they aren’t really leaving traveling too far in the air. They’re mostly a problem when it rains and are a threat to water quality.
Yeah cars should be illegal.
Most EVs by number in Chinese cities are electric motorbikes and tricicles, much much lighter than an electric car
Likely, but damage to roads increases with the square power of vehicle weight per wheel, meaning that just by virtue of being half the weight per wheel than cars their impact on road degradation is negligible.