this post was submitted on 30 Dec 2023
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Fuck Cars

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[–] [email protected] 133 points 10 months ago (5 children)
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[–] [email protected] 103 points 10 months ago (23 children)

They're a solution, not the solution indeed.

[–] [email protected] 45 points 10 months ago

Sorry, chief. We don't do nuanced thought in this community.

[–] [email protected] 33 points 10 months ago (1 children)

They are a patch, not a solution.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 10 months ago (2 children)

I live in GA outside of Atlanta and rent is already tough. I've been to cities with not exactly amazing but serviceable public transportation (various parts of greater NYC and Chicago) and loved them. I've tried to use busses elsewhere, though it often meant 3 hours wasted to go to work, with similar time wasted after (hourly buss schedules and multiple transfers).

I have an electric car now, work from home, and try to avoid having to drive much, but there isn't much more I can afford to do atm. An bike would be nice but even that'll take money I'm still recovering, and some places I go to even just a couple times a month has no public transportation. I'd love if it did, but I have to use EV for now.

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[–] [email protected] 32 points 10 months ago (13 children)

Not really. At all. Like they’re barely even a bandaid.

The issue is a car weighs a couple of tons and it’s being used to move a person who weighs around 100kg.

It’s massively inefficient use of energy.

Even in some fantasy world where the energy used to charge the batteries is all renewable - not even close to reality but let’s pretend - all that lithium and other precious earths are still an environmental disaster.

The answer is mass transit and lower mass vehicles. A lifestyle change is actually required and the thing is it wouldn’t even make people less happy, just that change is so fucking scary for some reason.

Walkable cities are a dream lifestyle and an electric scooter in a walkable city is outstanding. Fuck urban sprawl.

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[–] [email protected] 66 points 10 months ago (9 children)

The problem is people got the idea that they need a 3 ton truck to do grocery shopping

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[–] [email protected] 58 points 10 months ago (4 children)

I heard a good saying the other day: "Electric cars are a solution for the car industry." Give me walkable cities please

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[–] [email protected] 53 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (6 children)

Disagree on inefficient.

Internal combustion engines in standard small size convert 19.65-22.1% of their energy from thermal to kinetic.

The ratio of electron throughput from battery to electric motor can be as LOW as 88% but hovers between 92-98% efficiency.

Even if you had a fuel cell in the back, running electric motors quintuples (5×) the standard energy efficiency owing to the principle of energy quality type preservation in conversion (High to High vs Low to High):

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_transformation

So 1 electric car = 4 less carbon liquid fuelled cars worth of pollution.

What you're actually looking for is:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jevons_paradox

Jevon's Paradox states that improved efficiency of something will only increase its use, and in this case, electric cars will in fact, correlate to car use, and increased mineral demands.

This is a problem you cannot solve endemic to humanity.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 10 months ago (1 children)

I think the point is that compared to public transport when transporting a large number of people, they are inefficient.

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[–] [email protected] 24 points 10 months ago (6 children)

Like, I get your overall point, but the whiskey to wine comparison doesn't quite work lol.

For starters, you'd have to drink a LOT more wine comparatively, which doesn't translate when going from ICE to electric.

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[–] [email protected] 21 points 10 months ago

Just remember, the argument relies on not just getting rid of cars, but drastically improving public transport.

World peace is more likely given government attitudes towards public services!

[–] [email protected] 20 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (30 children)

This is why people hate liberals, and why liberals often migrate over to conservatism: no matter how right you are, there's always someone happy to crap on you for not being right enough.

Don't shit on EVs for merely being one of many solutions that all need to be engaged with. It's not like without EVs, so many people would be rushing to areas of greater density and riding public transit, so your message is not helpful in achieving what you want, and actively angers your allies.

[–] [email protected] 36 points 10 months ago

Ah yes conservatism, the famous side of rational thinking and anti-bias thoughts, such as avoiding the perfect solution bias
Your comment having so many upvotes is disgusting

[–] [email protected] 35 points 10 months ago

The thing is you're just not right. EVs serve to save the car, not the world.

It's not like without EVs, so many people would be rushing to areas of greater density and riding public transit, so your message

Correct! Which is why you should fight cars in general, cause then that happens

[–] [email protected] 25 points 10 months ago (8 children)

Don't take it so personally. sure EVs have a role to play but if we're to be serious about tackling climate change and environmental sustainability it's going to require massive infrastructure redevelopment projects, not asking everyone to please swap to rechargeable batteries. It's not about being "right enough" it's about recognizing a non-solution and also on a policy level a blatant scam. All these EV subsides the liberal Biden administration is throwing out are an obvious hand out to the failing American auto industry to try to keep them competitive and desperate ploy to their quickly dwindling supporters for them to look like they're doing anything worthwhile on climate change at all.

Having every American buy a new electric car is just going to make a few auto executives rich as hell and not even reduce overall global emissions because those cheaper ICE cars that can't be sold in America are just going to go to other parts of the world that don't have EV infrastructure but have plenty of already existing gas stations. And there's all the emissions of actually building the damn things. No, they need to put their money where their mouth is and build some fucking trains.

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[–] [email protected] 19 points 10 months ago (1 children)
  1. Do you realize what comm you're in?

  2. If pointing out that EVs aren't a real solution is enough to alienate those "allies" they weren't really allies at all. It's also less about individual choice to move to areas with better transit, and more about pressuring the government to install better transit everywhere instead of just funneling endless money to car manufacturers.

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[–] [email protected] 16 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (8 children)

EVs aren't a solution to anything except as a way to trick people into thinking purchasing a car is saving the environment or helping fix society.

If liberals are so shallow that they adopt racism because someone was mean to them online, then I'm glad they're being more honest. The message is that cars, all cars, are something worth fighting against. Electric cars are not a step in the right direction, they're not even a bandaid. They're just something liberals can purchase to make them feel like they're helping something. They're toys.

Honestly I would rather if most liberals outright come out as conservative, because it sounds like they're on the line already. It would be more honest of them.

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[–] [email protected] 15 points 10 months ago (1 children)

This is a lot like this Bors comic https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/8/8/1786532/-Cartoon-You-made-me-become-a-Nazi

Do honest people really migrate to "climate change is fake and queer people are a threat" because someone was mean to them online? Probably not often.

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[–] [email protected] 15 points 10 months ago

I think both sides are lacking nuance here. If you shit on people getting electric vehicles or just thinking of getting one because that's not far enough: fuck you. But also, for people that just switched or are thinking of getting one but then see something like this and slam into reverse and say "I'm gonna support ICE cars till the day I die to spite those overly hostile woke liberals": fuck you too.

People should be able to take the information in a more nuanced way, and should stop swinging from extreme to extreme which has led to the current fucked state of politics

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[–] [email protected] 20 points 10 months ago (1 children)

some of these problems are actually worse with electric cars, namely tire and brake dust, since EVs are heavier than similar size/performance ICE cars

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[–] [email protected] 19 points 10 months ago (1 children)
      ice car  |  electric car  

train?          ❌️              |                ❌️
simple as.

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[–] [email protected] 15 points 10 months ago (3 children)

Disagree on noise. Electric cars are quieter when going slowly and the main noise is engine, but louder when going fast and the main noise is tires.

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[–] [email protected] 14 points 10 months ago (2 children)

They're still just as noisy above 30 km an hour due to air displacement and tire on the road.

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[–] [email protected] 13 points 10 months ago (13 children)

I really think we're too far in the hole here.

I think fear grips people at every angle and none of us are brave enough to accept bold action for positive change in our society. It seems like most people are just retracting instead.

I vaguely remember that "Ye" (formerly Kanye West) once said something like he formed a think tank to build a city but the thing stopping his team was that "Ye" didn't understand any of the concepts and he ran it into the ground.

I want public transportation, I think everyone wants it at this point but no no one understands why we need it. They all just want to escape.

(This message was brought to you by the new 2024 Ford Escape: just hit the road and escape to paradise)

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[–] [email protected] 12 points 10 months ago

Would be nice if this had trains and buses and bikes columns.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 10 months ago

small amount of electric cars and mostly public transport

[–] [email protected] 12 points 10 months ago (2 children)

I want my damn trolleys back. No, making a new bus out of an old trolley chassis doesn't count.

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