Electric Vehicles - A Not So Green Solution

How many minor car crashes are there every day in America? Scratched EV battery? Your insurer may have to junk the whole car | Reuters

For many electric vehicles, there is no way to repair or assess even slightly damaged battery packs after accidents, forcing insurance companies to write off cars with few miles - leading to higher premiums and undercutting gains from going electric.

And now those battery packs are piling up in scrapyards in some countries, a previously unreported and expensive gap in what was supposed to be a "circular economy."

Some companies are making it easier (somewhat) to repair or replace batteries. Tesla has made the opposite design decision.

EVs constitute only a fraction of vehicles on the road, making industry-wide data hard to come by, but the trend of low-mileage zero-emission cars being written off with minor damage is growing. Tesla's decision to make battery packs "structural" - part of the car's body - has allowed it to cut production costs but risks pushing those costs back to consumers and insurers.

One of the principles of the environmental movement from way back in the day is the 3-part mantra, "Reduce. Reuse. Recycle." EVs fall flat on the all of those fronts. They require large amounts of mining heavy metals, the batteries are difficult or impossible to recycle, and they cannot be repaired (which I take as the reuse portion of that motto). So how exactly are they saving the world?

Do you really believe that a coal-powered electric grid, subject to transmission losses and the like is more sound than a modern engine? (Hat tip to Granite Grok: Another Electric Vehicle Fail – Even Minor Collision Damage Can Equal “Junked” Vehicle)