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MIT Study Finds Gas Cars Aren't Secretly Better For The Planet Than EVs, Despite What Everyone On Facebook Says (www.jalopnik.com)
submitted 3 months ago by [M] to c/electricvehicles@slrpnk.net
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[–] 2 points 3 months ago* (17 children)

I'm disappointed that the article doesn't address the ecological and social externalities footprint of the electronics and rare metals (lithium, copper, etc).

I'm not in Facebook, but I do live in South America. A lot of my not engineering friends would rather buy ICE cars than electric because of the harm they see that copper and lithium mines are doing to the environment here.

I wish I had something concrete and quantitative to point to that addressed those concerns.

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  • [–] 14 points 3 months ago (4 children)

    rare metals (lithium, copper, etc)

    It's important to remember that these metals need to be mined once, and will last the entire life of the vehicle, likely several lifetimes, as the battery materials can be recycled. Contrast that with ICE vehicles, which require more fossil fuels every time the vehicle is used.

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  • [+] -7 points 3 months ago (2 children)

    I believe that's theoretical hopium. Recycling battery lithium components is academic.

    And we know how terrible the process of recycling lead acid is on the environment, so we'll just have to see if its even possible in practice, and how bad it is.

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  • [–] [S] 5 points 3 months ago (3 children)

    EVs are also causing more tire particles due to the batteries making the vehicles heavier.

    But it’s nice that Brazil has a high amount of renewable energy output solidifying energy independence for their transport.

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  • [–] 9 points 3 months ago (1 child)

    So suddenly we care about heavy vehicles? Ford sells almost a million pickups a year.

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  • [–] 2 points 3 months ago

    I'm gonna guess that most F-150 drivers don't even know that microplastics exist and don't give a shit about pollution.

    But also, you can still make the biogas trucks worse if you make them even heavier than they already are.

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  • [–] 3 points 3 months ago (6 children)

    I also wish proponents of EVs could stop pretending that in some cases an ICE vehicle isnt more convenient. For 95% of people 95% of the time the EV wins but the edge cases do exist.

    When people argue that there are no exceptions to the rule when there clearly are I do wonder what other half truths they are telling.

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  • [–] 13 points 3 months ago (2 children)

    It's fair to base a global discussion about the habits and needs of 95% of us.

    Yes there will always be edge cases, but shut the fuck up. We know about them.

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  • [–] 2 points 3 months ago (1 child)

    Towing large things. That’s the only true unmet edge case I know of. Perhaps because it crosses over into commercial semi-ev territory.

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  • [–] 1 point 3 months ago

    Note that I said "More practical" not "EV usage impossible"

    Emergency services, extremely rural communities, people who live and work in situations that dont provide adequate charging, courier services, tradespeople who have to travel to multiple jobs a day and yes definitely people who need to tow. Many of those are infrastructure problems yes, but my point is that ignoring edge cases and trying to gaslight people into believeing they dont exist makes your argument look less valid and it hurts your credibility.

    My Aunt lives on a cattle farm that is 100% off grid, has to drive an hour to the nearest town and doctor and 3 hours to the nearest actual Hospital. You cant tell her with a straight face that range anxiety is all in her head.

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  • [–] 6 points 3 months ago (1 child)

    The same people buy F150s to carry home 3 2x4s from home depot twice a year.

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  • [–] 6 points 3 months ago

    I have experienced the reality behind this comment so deeply in the past year.

    I have been building a lot of stuff recently, and in 2026 alone I have made several large Home Depot lumber runs.

    It's always me in my old shorts & t-shirt, loading like 2 dozen 2x4s or 4x4s or plywood into either my little mazda3 sedan or the family SUV my wife drives that has a mix of "cute" and "sassy feminist" stickers all over the back. All around me are trumpy-looking chuds in their pristine business casual work clothes carrying a single little bag or mailbox post to their also-pristine emotional support trucks.

    And I'm not faulting them generally for clean clothes and nice cars. I'm a software engineer with a desk job, and I am way overdue for a fun new car that won't even fit lumber. But I am way way way over the stupid culture in this country where having a good job makes one a valid human and having a big vroom vroom truck makes one a legit rugged big strong boy.

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