zerowaste

1294 readers

12 users here now

Discussing ways to reduce waste and build community!

Celebrate thrift as a virtue, talk about creative ways to make do, or show off how you reused something!

founded 2 years ago

MODERATORS

JacobCoffinWrites

What to do with fuel-burning cars -- convert them? (self.zerowaste)

submitted 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) by activistPnk to c/zerowaste

11 comments fedilink hide all child comments

The avg. age of a car bought in Africa at the time of purchase is 21 years old. All these people buying EVs think they are taking a gas-burner off the road. But in fact cars do not get thrown away. They get shipped to Africa where they live on and continue to emit GHG for decades longer.

So what’s the answer? Destroying the car is a non-starter, as no one would throw away value. It would be like asking people to set some of their cash on fire.

Why not remove the engine and repurpose it as a backup power generator for power outtages? Then convert the rest of the car into an EV.

Conversions are being done. There are some companies offering to do the work. But these are very small scale operations that are rarely spoken of. I have to wonder why (what seems like) the best solution is being overlooked.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[–] andrewta@lemmy.world 5 points 1 month ago

Part is lower profit margins. Part is total cost of ownership. Part is recharging them. If I don't have a charging station at my place of residence, I have to drive somewhere find an open charging station and spend time waiting for it to charge. There are fast charging stations but they cost more (total cost of ownership) and they still aren't as fast as filling a gas tank (time is money). Depending on where the charging station is, I might be stuck there just waiting for it recharge.