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Comment by toast0 | Hacker News Reader

I'm totally willing to be wrong, but on the household level, usage has been going down as appliances and lighting get way more efficient.

If (electric) energy were near free, we'd probably get dishwashers that dry properly again, and more HVAC. IIUC, electric cars tend to be much heavier than ICE cars as storing energy in batteries is heavier than storing it in liquid fuel. That means you need more energy to move that weight; I think economics point towards moving heavy cars with electricity more than synthesizing liquid fuels if electricity is near free, but I could be wrong. Near free electricity could enable on-road charging as inductive losses would be palletable; and this could enable viable cars with smaller batteries, but this is pipe dream planning.

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I think and hope that middle-to-long term vehicle design adapts away from the constraints of ICE engines and towards sweet spots for electric.

Eg, when batteries are heavier than petrol, carrying enough fuel for a 200 mile journey every time you go to the shops doesn't make any sense. We need smaller, lighter vehicles for the vast majority of journeys. Scooters, electric bikes and trikes but also much smaller trucks for deliveries and tiny cars for people who can't use transit or bike-type vehicles (older people, infants, disabled people). Self-driving makes some of this more doable.

As vehicles get lighter, there is a virtuous circle where they need less fuel just to transport their engine and their fuel around. EV motors and drive trains should usually be lighter than ICE vehicle ones so this all helps.

A vehicle which can transport a whole family plus suitcases, camping equipment or Christmas presents several hundred miles in a few hours is a great thing to have, but we just shouldn't be using them routinely for urban and suburban journeys of a few miles, transporting 1-2 people and/or a few bags of shopping. Same with a truck that can fit half an apartment's worth of furniture.

Unless your routine urban and suburban trips involve transporting kids, car seats, stroller, the family dog.

A stroller is literally an urban vehicle for transporting an infant. "Walking a dog" is the name for a type of ambulatory exercise which most dogs require daily. Car seats exist to make cars workable; cars do not exist in order to transport car seats.

Moving away from cars means moving away from framing our transport needs in terms of problems that only cars can solve.

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