Questions tagged [electric-vehicles]
automotives that use one or more electric motors for propulsion, including cars, trucks, buses, bikes and more. Consider this tag for questions regarding EV designs, technologies, fuel types and performance/efficiency comparisons. Also consider [cars], [batteries], [transport] or [electricity], depending on your question.
44 questions
0
votes
3
answers
161
views
Why are EVs tagged as green when they consume so much?
There's a lot of greenwashing when it comes to electric vehicles. One central point that seems to slip through the cracks is that they don't need to be as fast as they are. The faster they are, the ...
- 101
2
votes
0
answers
60
views
How many miles per year is too few to make an EV more sustainable than a small petrol car
I need a car for occasional short journeys. My yearly millage will probably be less than 2000 miles. Is it worth getting an EV or will a small petrol be more environmental.
I’ll be buying used, ...
- 121
1
vote
2
answers
73
views
For Electric vehicles, HOW are miles per gallon equivalent (or L/100 Km) calculated, accounting for different sources of energy in the grid?
Could someone giver a clear and authoritative answer on HOW miles per gallon equivalent (or L/100 Km) are calculated for Battery electric Vehicles like Tesla Model 3 AWD long range? On the Electric ...
3
votes
2
answers
261
views
Why are EV batteries so much cheaper than household batteries from a per kWh basis?
If anything - shouldn't the EV battery have more requirements and be more expensive?
It needs to be lighter as that affects efficiency
It needs to have safety aspects like not blowing up in a crash
A ...
- 280
1
vote
2
answers
80
views
Are there any Type2-charged non-car vehicles?
To support my idea of Sustainable Living, I'd like to reuse costs spent by my family of purchasing high-end Type2 charger by using it not just to charge up our EV car.
Are there any battery-powered ...
- 135
3
votes
1
answer
85
views
Are there any distinct situations that an EV is not a good fit for?
With the new U.S. tax regulations supporting purchase of electric vehicles (EVs), there will be many new first-time EV owners in the near future.
What are considerations for someone planning to buy ...
- 293
1
vote
1
answer
44
views
Is it safe to use EV de-charging cables?
My friend told me that an EV is a huge self-driving powerbank and that with proper cable I can charge my mobile phone, make a barbeque or work on my laptop outdoor.
After quite intensively searching ...
- 135
1
vote
4
answers
340
views
Are EVs actually worse for ambient air quality than cars with combustion engines?
Most air pollution comes not from exhaust fumes but from wear and tear of tyres (it's 1000 times worse, some say). EVs are heavier because of their batteries and therefore release those tyre particles ...
- 1,703
0
votes
1
answer
1k
views
A converter from CHAdeMO cable to CCS connector for charging EV cars
A very similar question to this one. Is there any solution available to use CHAdeMO charging cable to power EV car equipped with CCS socket?
My knowledge gained so far says that there isn't anything ...
- 135
1
vote
1
answer
126
views
CHAdeMO to Type 2 connector for charging EV cars
I'd like to refresh and potentially update my knowledge.
Is there anything like CHAdeMO charging cable to Type 2 car plug connector? or any other solution that would allow me to charge my Type 2 car ...
- 135
4
votes
1
answer
136
views
Which alternative fuels are practical for cars in Europe? Is there a map of stations?
I am looking for viable options to allow sustainable personal transportation in Europe. For the sake of this question, let us ignore the question of emissions / LCA. The question is the practicality ...
- 141
3
votes
1
answer
161
views
Does battery state-of-charge affect regenerative braking in electric vehicles?
Most battery-electric vehicles support regenerative braking, where energy is sent back into the battery. Does the battery state-of-charge (percentage charged) affect how much energy is recovered in ...
- 2,919
4
votes
2
answers
105
views
What is the potential for a used car market for EVs?
In the 1970s, my dad bought a new Mazda sports car on a payment plan. About a year later he happened to see what the same model was selling for, and realized that he still owed more money than the car ...
- 11.9k
4
votes
1
answer
75
views
How should EV drivers prepare for winter driving?
On Monday night, a snowstorm in Virginia stranded drivers for up to 48 hours on Interstate 95. An op-ed this morning in the Washington Post argued that it would have been much worse if all the cars ...
- 11.9k
1
vote
2
answers
76
views
What is the difference between a hybrid vehicle and a plug-in hybrid vehicle?
What is the difference between a hybrid vehicle and a plug-in hybrid vehicle? And why are plug-in hybrid vehicles better than regular hybrid vehicles, even as good as EVs?
- 1,703
3
votes
2
answers
202
views
Why are heat pumps said to be more expensive than AC?
I'm interested in electric cars and a specific model I'm interested is not equipped with a heat pump.... but does have AC. The discussion across the internet usually cites cost as a reason they did ...
- 141
4
votes
1
answer
110
views
Is it more ecological to take a diesel ferry or drive an EV the longer route?
I'm trying to figure out my daily dilemma: whether it's less polluting to take a diesel ferry that hops me over the river (roughly 160 m) or to drive my electric vehicle (EV) on a 15 km detour to take ...
- 143
5
votes
3
answers
170
views
Electricity need to switch all cars from fossil fuel
For purely hypothetical discussion, I was asking myself how big electrical production increase would be needed for a first-world country when switching all cars from fossil fuel to EV only.
I made the ...
- 53
3
votes
1
answer
176
views
Do solar PV roofs make sense for semi trucks?
Today I read the news that Tesla is about to start production of electric semi trucks (aka tractor-trailers). Given the size of the trailer and its long, flat roof, I wonder if it would be feasible to ...
- 11.9k
2
votes
1
answer
76
views
Is there a total cost of ownership calculator for cars that will give me electric vehicle options?
I recently replaced a 20-year-old ICE vehicle in need of significant repairs with a five-year-old ICE vehicle. We had hoped that we could buy an EV this time around, but models that meet our needs are ...
- 11.9k
1
vote
0
answers
38
views
Which countries, regions, or cities have zero emission vehicle mandates? [duplicate]
Today the governor of the U.S. state of Massachusetts announced that starting in 2035, gasoline-powered vehicles will no longer be sold in the state. From the announcement (emphasis added, and a "...
- 11.9k
11
votes
3
answers
4k
views
How exactly do the impacts of lithium mining compare to oil extraction over a vehicle's lifetime?
There's been a lot of discussion about the impacts of lithium mining vs oil extraction (here for example). I'd like to quantify this.
How do the impacts of mining lithium for one electric vehicle (EV) ...
- 11.9k
1
vote
3
answers
398
views
Why do most car manufacturers prefer electric batteries over hydrogen fuel cells?
Is this due to cost, or infrastructure, or path dependency, or incentives?
I understand that batteries are more efficient (1) - but this does not take into account the quantity of rare materials ...
- 383
2
votes
1
answer
75
views
Are a significant portion of electric vehicle batteries reused as grid-connected batteries?
I've heard lots of people mention that concerns about the sustainability of electric vehicles are mitigated when you consider that at end-of-life the batteries can be reused as stationary, grid ...
- 11.9k
5
votes
2
answers
219
views
How much weight would a wireless charging system add to an electric bus?
Wireless charging requires a number of 'receiving charging pad's and a 'management module' and I imagine there will be additional wiring. How much extra weight does this add to an electric bus?
- 667
6
votes
3
answers
168
views
Any electric vehicle that can be used as a home energy storage?
I have a house with a solar array on top currently tied to the grid. I would love to be able to use an EV as a battery for my house, and after it charges up in the day be nice to use it for the ...
- 163
4
votes
1
answer
170
views
Which car is more sustainable, an all-electric Tesla Model 3 or a gas-powered Prius?
The Toyota Prius is available as a plug-in model, but I have a Prius that is only gas-powered, that is gas is the only fuel. I am wondering if the mpgE of the Tesla, 141, is so much better than the ...
6
votes
2
answers
235
views
Are trains more sustainable than electric buses?
I assume the energy for electric buses and trains comes from the same sources. But a train doesn't need to carry it's power supply along, contrary to a bus. However, there is more infrastructure that ...
- 161
8
votes
2
answers
315
views
How much of a reduction of carbon emissions can be achieved if a diesel bus is switched out for electric?
My city council has pledged to try and be carbon neutral by 2030 as part of the Global Covenant of Mayors and are investigating ways to achieve that.
I'd like to bring forth an idea to replace our ...
- 1,341
5
votes
1
answer
719
views
Is charging Tesla Model 3 at 110v/15amp less energy efficient than at 220v/30amp?
I have a rudimentary understanding of volts and amps. (Volts is like pressure and Amps are like the bandwidth of that pressure.) So just reasoning about it, I imagine charging to be an event where the ...
- 191
7
votes
4
answers
137
views
What is the effect of hot weather on the performance of electric vehicles?
Allied to the question: How does cold weather affect electric vehicles?
How does hot weather affect electric vehicles, particularly when the atmospheric temperature is above 30 C and closer to 40 C,...
- 3,517
6
votes
4
answers
313
views
How does cold weather affect electric vehicles?
I live in Madison, Wisconsin, US where our winters are cold -- for January and February, the average low is around -10C, with extremes regularly dipping below -20C.
I currently have a 20-year old car....
- 11.9k
3
votes
1
answer
117
views
Are solar powered cars sustainable and are they a good idea for future transportation?
As population rises, fossil fuels will start depleting so are solar powered cars a good idea? How much power can they produce when it is cloudy?
0
votes
0
answers
31
views
How sustainable is replacing a gas car with an electric car, since gas car still exists? [duplicate]
I drive a 2010 BMW 535i maybe 100 km/week, mostly urban driving. My wife also has a gasoline car which we can use for longer trips. I want to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions by buying an electric ...
- 101
2
votes
2
answers
98
views
Electric cars and grid power capacity
The UK has a target to be carbon-neutral by 2050:
As we can see in the image large cuts across all type of CO2 emissions are required. This article by the BBC suggests a number of ways in which ...
- 121
3
votes
4
answers
14k
views
Method of transport with decent speed/low cost without a driving license?
I'm looking for something a little bit better than your average bike in terms of transportation potential, but cannot be a license-required vehicle as I cannot get a driver's license. I also don't ...
- 31
5
votes
1
answer
377
views
Is electricity used at night more likely to be renewable?
Discussing charging my electric car with a colleague recently I argued that since (in Ireland) our renewable energy sources are mainly wind and hydro, since I charge my car at night the mixture of ...
- 153
2
votes
2
answers
113
views
Are there any active vehicle to grid programs around the world that are accepting customers?
It seems like people have been hyping the benefits of vehicle-to-grid (V2G) for decades.
The basic premise of V2G is that electric vehicles, when plugged in to the grid to charge, can offer services ...
- 11.9k
12
votes
6
answers
458
views
To what extent (if any) are electric vehicle batteries recyclable?
Are there any existing procedures for the recycling of electric vehicle car batteries, and if so what are they? In particular I'm interested in those used in the Volkswagen E-Golf, though general ...
- 121
4
votes
3
answers
226
views
New electric vehicle: does the cost outweigh the benefits?
Since it's summer break and I can no longer walk everywhere like I could at university, I've been having to drive my car a lot. For a 2001 model, it gets excellent gas mileage (or so I assume, I've ...
- 155
5
votes
1
answer
255
views
Is an electric vehicle more sustainable just because it runs on batteries? [duplicate]
So, is driving an EV (like the Tesla Model S) actually sustainable? Does it not matter how the actual power/energy was created? Does this matter?
- 223
7
votes
2
answers
2k
views
Are electric cars more efficient than gas-powered car (when considering entire energy cycle)? [duplicate]
For the last couple weeks, I've been hearing a lot of talk surrounding Tesla and "the electric car". What I'm curious of is whether or not it is more efficient to actually power an electric car (the ...
- 171
17
votes
12
answers
34k
views
What are the pros and cons of electric motors vs. internal combustion engines?
What are the pros and cons of electric motors, compared to internal combustion engines, from a sustainability perspective?
Are electric motors better for the economy, more efficient, or more ...
user1869
35
votes
3
answers
4k
views
Are electric cars as environmentally friendly as we think they are?
Given the fact that the average lifetime for a car battery is 3 years and all of the batteries end up at a landfill at the end of their lifetime, how sustainable are electric cars in providing a ...
- 701