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Comment by fataliss | Hacker News Reader

I will not argue that Tesla is doing things differently. I have one gripe with the absolute truth suggested by "good for the planet and its inhabitants" that so many EV manufacturers ride on. Are electric cars good for the planet? Nope. Are they less bad than gas cars? Maybe. It's like saying that Diet coke is good for you because it replaces normal coke that is bad for you. That's an erroneous and arguably dangerous dichotomy. Sorry if I'm being facetious but that kind of marketing bothers me and I believe is damaging (to the environment in this case) by making us more inclined to settle for non optimal solutions.

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I understand your reasoning but this is a perfect example of the saying "Never let the perfect be the enemy of the good". I agree that there are better solutions in terms of environmental cost for mobility but given the constraints of human behavior and urgent need for massive immediate reduction of carbon emissions, EV's are currently our best shot.

Why? Why isn't more public transit, which in ever study is massively more greenhouse gas efficient than electric cars and is also already an existing and proven technology a better option?

Why aren't plugin hybrids a better option? Battery electric vehicles require massive emissions in assembling a Li+ battery of that size. Given that most trips for people are short distances that wouldn't end up using the fuel tank of a plugin hybrid, why is encouraging their adoption not a better solution.

There seems to be a belief that BEVs are the obvious and accepted solution to the climate crisis that I don't think meets muster.

Also, the idea that "electric cars the solution" is a specious claim. Buses, trains, etc, are still far more efficient in greenhouse emissions standards than a culture that encourages everyone to have a personal car. It's not clear that we should be incentivizing electric car ownership than disincentivizing car ownership at all.

Will your belief be different if knowing that there are those where owning a car is the only option -- where bikes nor public transportation can get us to our destination on a day to day basis?

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