I survived my neighborhood “driveway party” unscathed except for our local busybody grilling me about my new #ElectricVehicle. She’s obsessed with what becomes of the batteries at the end of life. As a geologist, I noted that the expense and liability of mining lithium and other metals would make recycling a much more economical option (and obviously more sustainable.) I doubt that she worried about crushed ICE cars filling America’s landfills and ravines. #EVs #EVsRock https://www.technologyreview.com/2023/02/17/1068037/how-do-ev-batteries-work/
@TrueBloodNet These are the same Luddites who fought me on my rooftop solar array because they claim that the panels will end up in landfills polluting groundwater. I spent my entire career in environmental consulting (including cleaning up the contaminants from “traditional” practices) and have been an early adopter of alternative energy and now an EV.
the excuses some people use for avoiding a sense of responsibility 🙄
Recycling EV batteries is a new wave of tech that seems to be exploding in the US.
Before that, EV batteries no longer capable of powering a vehicle are being used as mass storage for solar arrays. https://www.axios.com/2023/02/07/electric-car-batteries-solar-power-storage
And even 1st gen batteries are lasting waaaay longer than the 10 years first predicted. The estimates I’ve read now tend to range closer to the 20-year mark.
@cassandra17lina I'm particularly enamored with the anti-EV argument that EVs "actually pollute more than fossil fuel vehicles." Meanwhile, I just sit there listening as I get cancer from breathing fresh air....
@FinnegansWhacked For folks who don’t give a crap about health or the environment, there’s this: efficiency.
@FinnegansWhacked @cassandra17lina
This is, of course, a Fox News talking point. I also hear it over and over again. It follows the argument that battery materials extraction is dirty and costly.
@cassandra17lina Glad you survived (and hopefully otherwise had a good time.) You might let the busy body know that EV batteries are being refurbished and turned into solar energy batteries. :)