Do you think electric transportation is the future?

[Kayla45]

Such as electric cars, scooters, bikes, etc?

Yes

Vote A

No

Vote B

Other

Vote C

Updates:

[Smoke-n-Growls]

I think EVs are the future, yes. There's already several governments and companies with EV/Hybrid and EV only production by 2030, and most people would buy an EV for daily use if they were affordable and had infrastructure to support it.

The arguments against EVs are lessening (though recycling batteries and unethical mining practices are still major concerns), like "what about cold weather/charging stations" and so on.

That said, I think the real future is in well-designed cities with walkable/bikable areas being the norm, cars reglated to further and less populated areas of cities, and heavy public transportation like trains and electric buses.

Between less fossil fuel intensive infrastructure, reclaiming unused urban spaces (rooftops etc) for solar design, and deep energy retrofitting oldee buildings and communities, I think that stands as the best possible solution for future city infrastructure.

Cars are just one small part of the problem for the future. Sustainable design and practice in the real world needs to become more mainstream, or we won't have to worry about a future.

[Aerissa_Jade]

Not yet, technology needs to come a lot further and prices need to come down.

As of today I am not aware of any electric pickup truck that can compete in the diesel power/range class of existing diesel pickup trucks.

Such as towing up to 27,000 pounds (5th wheel or gooseneck trailer) and travelling for 500 without stopping. I know electric is extremely powerful, but it needs to last that long too... no one is going to use or buy them if they have to stop and charge every hundred or so miles for a hour or more.

We are kind of getting technology there for little things, like scooters, maybe motorbikes and such... but even the electric cars that are on the market are too pricy.

We need lots more innovation and less regulation to get there. If electric vehicles are so much better, the free market will take over.

Batteries though are a problem, so I'll jokingly say maybe they should forget batteries and just build tesla towers every so often along every roadway... sarcasm right.

[SomeGuyCalledTom]

I suspect the market for electric vehicles will continue to grow, but the limiting factor will be regional infrastructure. Major cities like London, L. A., Paris etc will likely be well served. But in rural Europe, Middle America, and large swaths of the developing world, access to charge points and whatnot could remain limited, if not entirely absent.

[genericname85]

absolutely no. i find it crazy that after realizing "oil isn't sustainable", we somehow believe that rare earths, lithium, kobalt, copper and so on are "sustainable... specially considerig that most car manufacturers don't even give a shit about recycling the batteries at some point. tesla in particular makes batteries impossible to service and to economically recycle.

and that doesn't even scratch the surface of the entire issue with the generation of electricity and the infrastructure of the grid being far from ready for a large scale transition into electric mobility, not to mention "sustainability" in that field. because as far as we know, nuclear is far more sustainable than everything else, yet people ideologiocally want wind and solar of course, even though those things have their own very individual sustainability issues on top of their base load capacity problems.

so another very short sighted solution for a long term issue.

[MysticDevice]

Nope. You have to charge all of those from the grid. The grid is still powered by coal, oil, and gas. Electric cars and scooters are still internal combustion but with extra steps.

Not to mention that the chemicals in those batteries are toxic beyond belief and absolutely horrendous for the environment.

I always thought they should use hydrogen. Its plentiful, cheap (ish) and its only byproduct is H2O. Water.

[Kiran_Yagami]

Given that we can't even keep the lights on now with the power generation we have, adding a million or more electric vehicles to the grid will just outright collapse it. Solar polar is unreliable. Wind power is unreliable. Hydro-dams only work for large rivers, of which we have few of. Activists bitch and moan about nuclear power, so we end up with coal instead which is far worse for the environment. All of that leads to a severe lack in electricity generation. You won't be able to charge your vehicle.

[elduderinosupreme]

Lithium mining and nicad battery stuff is all nightmarish levels of environmentally destructive. It just makes people feel better. It will not replace fuel burners. The fuel will probably change though. I'm in the process of converting to e85 in one vehicle. Not for environmental reasons or the lower emissions but the anti knock index. It's pump race gas. Sadly have to do lots more maintenance. But blown smallblock on e will be fun.

[20yearsolder]

Maybe in the future, when you can charge one in approximately 5 minutes. Right now you have to plan your trip so you can stop every 350 miles and charge for an hour or so. The batteries are horrible for the environment. The list goes on and on. Right now we are depending upon fossil fuels to charge them

[Frank_Woods]

I think it will be a big part of the future, but I also think there will be other forms of energy vehicles. The more efficient renewables become, the more we can phase out fossil fuels. It should be a gradual shift, not sudden change.

[Anonymous]

Nah, Hydrogen has more practical prospects, they can transport it as ammonia if I recall correctly now

Electric grids can't handle it once you put 4-5 billion vehicles on top of the redevelopment for overpopulation issues

Maybe if you half the population, keep it regulated and reduce the volume of vehicles and you might and only might have a hope of doing it

[DannyUk2017]

It is, untill from Nuclear power, Trapps and Bombs wi'll end up in EMP's then you'll see fun, or in winter time batteries go flat, or you can't warm u car more than 30min, couse drains the battery... so.. i see the future an IT WAR! Not a IT evolution, will be like phones/android/apple, soon as the memory is "full" of "updates" that it receives, then you're forced to buy a new one, same withe the Electric cars...

[AviatorTom]

Electric transportation is here now, and it will be with us in the future. It will take a while, though, to replace all gasoline/diesel powered vehicles, including the oil companies and their intrastructure.

[Daniela1982]

If everyone had electric vehicles the power grid could not handle them all and would collapse. With droughts and dams not being able to make electricity, it leaves fossil fuel to pick up the slack. But the point of electric cars is so you don't have to rely on fossil fuels. So it becomes a catch 22. Plus where are you going to fill up on a trip?

[OldWorldOrder]

When we begin space mining, we're going to discover new ways to fuel our machines. I predict that nuclear energy will make a comeback once we figure out how to use and dispose of materials more safely.

[exitseven]

I have been thinking about this for a while. I do not think electric vehicles are the future of transportation. I think that the manufacturing and disposal of the batteries will cause more harm to the environment than burning fossil fuel which you have to do anyway to make electricity.

[ColHathi]

Well it has to be, doesn't it? Fossil fuels aren't gonna last forever. They aren't good for the planet, or us for that matter, and electric transportation seems to work just fine.

Is there some other alternative that I don't know about?

[DryGermanGuy]

Scotty disagrees!

https://www.youtube.com/embed/west2PFD0D4

[Deathraider]

Yes. Though I think best solution to help hinder climate change is to try to change urban and suburban areas as to promote alternative means of transportation (like walking, biking, or using buses and trains).

[CaptainLegal]

In cities all public transportation should be electric. Electric vehicles don't make noise plus it would help with air pollution. In Europe, in some countries they have already many electric taxis and busses

[josephinelcajon]

They are running out of lithium and now planning to mine the drained lakes such as lake mead. This is why they deliberately drained them!

[EssenceOfLight]

Yes. Most of time we don't need a car that drives 1000 miles in a day. This is different for buses and trucks. I think electricity and batteries are the base of post-oil transportation but I think hydrogen technologies are important for vehicles which need more energy daily than a personal car.

[TommyMountainFigure]

I suppose it has to be, given the long term shortage of fuel