People keep saying you need a new electric car to cut emissions

I keep hearing folks at the town meetings say the only real climate action is buying a brand new EV. My neighbor just traded in his 2015 Civic for a new electric SUV. The Civic got 40 miles per gallon and was fine. The carbon from building that new car is huge. I read a study from the University of Michigan that said keeping an efficient older car running is often better for the planet. Has anyone else run the numbers on this for their own vehicle?

2 comments

2 Comments

victor_thompson592d ago

Oh man, you hit the nail on the head! My sister did the same thing, got rid of her perfectly good Prius for a giant new electric truck. I saw that same study, something about the "carbon debt" from making the new battery. Doesn't it take years of driving just to break even?

blair6262d ago

Yeah, and like victor_thompson59 said, that break-even point is wild. My buddy did the math on his old Corolla versus a new EV. The car factory emissions alone were like driving his Corolla for eight years. So he'd have to drive that shiny new thing for almost a decade just to catch up to where he is now. Feels like people are just trading one problem for another to feel better.