Friday, January 7, 2022

Hybrids before ev's?

 I've read claims from Toyota that hybrids can reduce emissions much quicker than electric vehicles, but this is the best explanation I've yet encountered:

drivers who use their cars for short trips may be overcapitalising on electric cars with enormous battery packs responsible for significant carbon emissions throughout their life cycle...

... Hybrids were more affordable than battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and would reduce “more emissions, sooner, than BEVs alone”...

“According to our calculations, those 240,000 hybrids have had the same impact on reducing CO2 as approximately 72,000 BEVs...”

“Yet the volume of batteries we’ve used to produce these hybrid-electric vehicles is the same as we’d need for just 3500 BEVs.

“In other words, we can say that the batteries needed for 3500 BEVs have been used to achieve the CO2 emissions reduction effect of 72,000 BEVs.

Within the expected lifetime of a new vehicle I think it is unlikely the grid will be efficiently utilizing the batteries on personal electric vehicles. Some smart homes may integrate them, but I think it will generally be true the battery will fail to be utilized much more than this article suggests. 

In Ontario we  saw an attempt at revising the building code to require charging infrastructure in new construction fail, probably largely due to requirements for 200 amp service which I suspect were considered an overreach by ane incoming government as it cancelled the updates.

A new vehicle decision now has lots of factors: a garage (which I call a house for my car - as it strikes me as a strange thing), electrical service and wiring. My most recent purchase decision kicked the can down the road as I went with a used vehicle. I suspect my wife and I could agree on a small SUV (Rav 4ish) with a 100-150 km range on the battery and an ICE, but maybe the next car will get its own house - and be electric.

 



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