Bags and Cars, Part 2

And now we move on to another product that they want to convert into a mass market product, almost with forceps (just like bags), I am referring to the brand new electric vehicles that have made their majestic entrance, with drums and trumpets into the markets (not all of them), telling us and apparently convincing many that they are the solution to the great dilemma of CO2 emissions, since they are zero emissions and therefore are the most environmentally efficient means of transport, even more so than a glider or a rowboat.

The big problem is that there are at least two problems with this. The first concerns the emissions generated to produce the thing and that therefore have to be “added” to the “zero emissions”…and while we are at it, this should be a standard practice in all products and services. Always speaking in terms of CO2 emissions, how many are these in an electric vehicle from the first moment that a bolt is manufactured until one takes it home; that is; as we saw in the first part of this article…the famous product turns.

In the case of electric vehicles (EV), there are two items that send the carbon footprint sky-high compared to an internal combustion vehicle (ICV), and that is the battery or batteries, the rest of the gadgets are relatively the same between one and the other… and even better for the EV, since, for example, electric motors require much fewer components compared to an ICV. The problem is that the manufacture of the battery produces such a quantity of emissions, energy requirements and unwanted collateral damage to the environment, that the EV is “born” with CO2 emissions of around double that of a Corvette of the year. The battery is also extremely difficult to manufacture, using raw materials that are not easy to obtain, such as lithium, which is water-intensive, and cobalt, manufactured mainly in countries such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where the use of minors for extraction is well known. Finally, batteries have been evolving towards greater capacity, and therefore, greater volume and greater emissions in their manufacture.

I sincerely believe that electric vehicles are the solution to the issue of CO2 emissions from mobile sources…..but not yet. I think that the best solution TODAY is hybrid engines, so as not to bore you with a huge text two buttons:

1. The batteries required are much smaller in size, so the initial CO2 footprint is very low and practically the same as an IVC. A Corvette actually arrives at the store where it is sold with 6 tons of CO2 just for manufacturing. The initial carbon footprint of an EV with a range of 600 km (the same as the IVC) is 27 tons of CO2. I don't know about you, but just to manufacture something that generates 27 tons of CO2, I would be embarrassed to say that it is Zero Emissions.

2. Hybrid vehicles use the electric motor precisely when it produces the most emissions, at low speeds. At low speed, which is when the vehicle is used the most in the city and where there are the most vehicles on a global level.

There is another “tiny” factor that also hits the waterline directly in terms of adding or subtracting CO2 emissions from EVs and it refers to electricity generation. For me personally this is THE ISSUE. Of all the energy currently generated worldwide, 63.4% comes from the combustion of fossil fuels. I say worldwide, because this is a worldwide problem, as I understood, and since it is a global problem, it requires global solutions. In Chile, of course, a lot has been done in renewables and we have about 62% in renewables and 38% in fossils. Norway is about 98.54% in renewables…tremendous. But these figures, apart from serving to congratulate ourselves and pat ourselves on the back, are like cheating ourselves. They are not very useful for attacking the sources of CO2 generation that rich countries have to get their teeth into. Which ones would you say? 80.5% is the burning of fossil fuels to produce electricity... and that is despite the fact that 300,000,000 Africans do not have access to the electricity grid, so start understanding the huge problem that we all have!

It will continue on this same channel and at the same time.