There’s nothing worse for a good idea than using it for virtue signaling. Check electric vehicles: they make sense for multiple reasons. They would still do if governments were not worried about climate change. Driving one will not save the world, and Fully Charged showed why with a recent video about particulates. Electric cars also produce them.
If you are wondering where they come from, think about brake pads, tires, and the pollution already deposited on the roads. When any vehicle crosses them, whether it is electric or run by combustion engines, tiny particles of tire, asphalt, and brake pads flow in the air, waiting to get into somebody’s lungs.
Coincidentally, a study led by NTU Singapore showed that black carbon air pollution is linked to an increase in lung adenocarcinoma (LADC) cases worldwide. Black carbon is produced by burning fossil fuels, but it is also used in tires. Part of this particulate may be generated by rubber powder.
What the Fully Charged video helps to demonstrate is that anything that uses tires will cause pollution. The heavier the vehicle is, the more particulates it will possibly engender. As Helen Czerski reminds us in the video, no technology is perfect, which does not mean that its downsides make it undesirable.
Electric cars are better than ICE vehicles because they are more efficient machines. With the energy contained in 16.6 gallons (62.8 liters) of gasoline, Jason Fenske traveled 1,963 miles on a road trip. That happens because a big chunk of the energy in fuels is flushed down the toilet in engines: the best ones use only 40% of it, while most use only 20%. Electric motors convert around 90% of electricity into movement.
EVs are also silent, something that makes people say they do not have a soul. The practical effect is that they cut sound pollution as much as toxic gases. What they cannot avoid – at least until now – are particulates. Some will try to convince you this is why you should use a bike on road trips or walk 50 miles per day.
Saving the world means saving resources, using them without waste, and making them last as much as possible. There’s only one car company that we are aware of with such concerns. All others want to pump out as many vehicles as possible, consuming whatever is necessary to get there.
Summing up, saving the world implies using what is between your ears to avoid repeating slogans with no connection to reality just to look good. That hurts the very ideas you may think you promote.
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