{"id":1392599,"date":"2023-08-09T00:05:00","date_gmt":"2023-08-09T04:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/?p=1392599"},"modified":"2023-08-09T00:05:00","modified_gmt":"2023-08-09T04:05:00","slug":"new-epa-tailpipe-standards-call-electric-vehicle-promises-into-question","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/new-epa-tailpipe-standards-call-electric-vehicle-promises-into-question\/1392599\/","title":{"rendered":"New EPA Tailpipe Standards Call Electric Vehicle Promises Into Question"},"content":{"rendered":"

New EPA Tailpipe Standards Call Electric Vehicle Promises Into Question<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Authored by Ethan Brown via RealClear Wire<\/a>,<\/em><\/p>\n

The Environmental Protection Agency\u2019s (EPA) ambitious tailpipe emissions standards may be partly canceled out by emissions earlier in the electric vehicle (EV) supply chain<\/strong>, said panelists at a RealClearEnergy webinar last Wednesday.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

On April 12, the EPA unveiled new\u00a0vehicle emissions standards<\/a> under the Clean Air Act which would mandate auto manufacturers to lower the carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from their vehicles to a company wide average of 82 grams per mile by 2032. Currently, the average passenger vehicle emits about 400 grams<\/a>\u00a0of CO2 per mile. Only one automaker,\u00a0Tesla<\/a>, would meet the standard today.<\/p>\n

But while tailpipes present a major source of emissions for internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles, today\u2019s EVs emit greenhouse gasses during the mining and processing of minerals and, in many cases, the generation of electricity.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou just don\u2019t even know if it\u2019s gonna save carbon emissions<\/strong>, which is the point of the whole exercise,\u201d said Rupert Darwall, Senior Fellow at the RealClear Foundation.<\/p>\n

A 2021 International Energy Agency (IEA)\u00a0analysis<\/a> found that compared with an ICE car, an EV achieves about a 50% reduction in life-cycle emissions, which accounts for mining and electricity. The report claims that \u201cemissions from minerals development do not negate the climate advantages of clean energy technologies.\u201d<\/p>\n

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But Mark Mills, Senior Fellow at the Manhattan Institute, points out that the IEA data relies on approximations based on uncertain assumptions about the supply chains of EV batteries. The range shown on the IEA\u2019s graph could be anywhere from 75% emissions reductions to no reduction at all.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo one has any idea where on that range you really lie<\/strong>,\u201d said Mills.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Mills published a\u00a0report<\/a> last month,\u00a0Electric Vehicles for Everyone? The Impossible Dream<\/em>,\u00a0arguing that EVs present far too many uncertainties and limitations for governments to favor them through bans on the sales of ICE vehicles, or stringent standards like the EPA\u2019s. Beyond emissions, the report cites high costs, humanitarian concerns, and reliance on China as issues for EVs. The report predicts \u201cdraconian impediments to affordable and convenient driving and a massive misallocation of capital in the world\u2019s $4 trillion automotive industry.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cFrom an engineering sense, flying cars are more likely than all EVs,\u201d Mills quipped in the RealClear webinar.<\/p>\n

Others argue these are not disqualifying limitations, but rather hurdles that can be overcome. In a separate interview, Dr. Al-Thaddeus Avestruz, Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the University of Michigan, explained that smaller batteries would reduce the demand for minerals, bringing down emissions, cost, and social impact.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are many new battery technologies that have less reliance on these really difficult to sustain materials,\u201d said Avestruz.<\/p>\n

One such technology, for which Avestruz has a patent, involves wireless power transfer. Akin to a wireless charging pad for mobile phones, Avestruz explained that roads and EVs could be equipped to charge cars as they move.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can think of these things as moving chargers that charge over, let’s say, some corridors on the highway, and while moving seamlessly, you just get charged, and you don’t even notice.\u201d<\/p>\n

While this\u00a0technology could be costly to implement, Avestruz notes that wireless power transfer could enable EVs to use smaller batteries, which would reduce the need for unsustainable minerals.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cPotentially you can reduce the size of the batteries by half. And so the smaller batteries need less raw materials, they’re lighter, meaning that overall, they\u2019re more efficient.\u201d<\/p>\n

Other commonly proposed solutions to reduce the impacts of minerals include more sustainable mining practices such as the world\u2019s first\u00a0all-electric lithium mine<\/a>\u00a0currently being developed in Nevada, replacing lithium-ion batteries with\u00a0sodium-ion batteries<\/a>, and recycling or recovering minerals from EV batteries to use in new EVs or elsewhere. Avestruz received a\u00a0National Science Foundation CAREER Award<\/a>\u00a0for a project that aims to use retired EV batteries for energy storage on the electric grid.<\/p>\n

Prior to the EPA\u2019s new tailpipe standards, major automakers such as Ford Motor Company and General Motors had already stated their intent to join Tesla as leaders in the American EV market. In 2021, Ford\u00a0announced<\/a>\u00a0a historic $11.4 billion investment into new EV manufacturing campuses in Tennessee and Kentucky.<\/strong><\/p>\n

On May 25, Ford CEO Jim Farley joined Tesla CEO Elon Musk on\u00a0Twitter Spaces<\/a>\u00a0to announce that starting early next year, Ford customers would\u00a0gain access<\/a>\u00a0to the more than 12,000 Tesla Superchargers across the U.S. and Canada. In 2025, Ford\u2019s vehicles will also be equipped with Tesla\u2019s North American Charging Standard (NACS) connector, eliminating the need for an adapter. GM made the same\u00a0announcement<\/a>\u00a0two weeks later.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur goal is really to be as helpful as possible in accelerating towards sustainable transport. That\u2019s also why we open source our patents and many of our designs are open sourced. We\u2019re just glad to be as helpful as possible<\/strong>,\u201d said Musk during the announcement.<\/p>\n

Farley and Musk each acknowledged various concerns about the EV transition such as lithium processing and cathode refining. But ultimately, both CEOs expressed optimism that these challenges could be overcome.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re going into the second inning of a nine-inning game, so we\u2019re going to make adjustments along the way,\u201d said Farley.<\/p>\n

Ethan Brown is a Writer and Commentator for Young Voices with a B.A. in Environmental Analysis & Policy from Boston University. He is the creator and host of The Sweaty Penguin, an award-winning comedy climate program presented by PBS\/WNET\u2019s national climate initiative \u201cPeril and Promise.\u201d Follow him on Twitter\u00a0 @ethanbrown5151<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Tyler Durden<\/a><\/span>
\nTue, 08\/08\/2023 – 20:05<\/span><\/p>\n

\u200bhttps:\/\/www.zerohedge.com\/energy\/new-epa-tailpipe-standards-call-electric-vehicle-promises-question<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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