Climate notes for October 2024

The last few months in EV-land have been tough. I've written here before that I was involved in the Irish EV Association for a number of years (5, I think) where I had a number of roles (PR, marketing, memberships and chair). During that era, which ended about 2 years ago now, I was involved in making EVs seem more palatable to both average consumers and businesses managing fleets. I spoke at events, wrote articles, lobbied elected officials, and everything in-between.

It was a time of growth because, well, frankly the starting point was a few middle aged men talking about the drag coefficient of their violently bad Renault Zoe's. In that era, bigger batteries, better variety of vehicle and a much better charging network came into effect.

And now, with a good network, home charging prices at rock bottom, grants for solar PV, and cars being cheaper than their ICE equivalents, there are questions in the market about the validity of EVs entirely. And this seems to be some of the weirdo internet back-talk leaking into the mainstream more than any real concern.

Folks seem concerned about the degradation of batteries over time. My MIL owns my first EV; a 2019 Tesla Model Y. It has a dual-motor, larger battery setup. And it has been kept at a moderate 70/80% charge for the most part when being charged every week or two for normal usage. As a family, her and my family unit have a regular 2 hour journey from Dublin to Waterford's south coast. And her car, almost without fail, will consume about 50% of the battery to take that journey down the motorway. So does mine. I don't need a fancy test to tell me that the battery is in great shape.

It probably has dropped some cycles, but the high end battery management system and high quality materials used for it mean it'll have a long life. There are 20 year old Nissan Leafs on the road today, no bother to 'em.

And since that 2019 car, I bought a Model Y to accommodate my family more appropriately (we genuinely couldn't fit the double buggy into the M3 boot). The build quality is so much better from China, and presumably Tesla updating some practices. The battery is a bit bigger, but the car is a bit heavier, so again, on that same straight line down to Waterford, I consume about 50% of the battery reliably. The distance between those two cars is nearly 4 years. And the tech looks to have improved, but in reality the experience I have is almost the same from a core EV tech perspective.

In the new year I'll get a new EV. This one will likely be tasked with lasting longer than my Tesla's in the roster. I'm getting myself the new Porsche Macan EV. Dual motor, larger (again) battery and an all-round similar setup to the Model Y. Except with 100% less Elon, better build quality and it gets me back to feeling like I'm driving a car, not an iPad on wheels. And yep, the battery is bigger. But like my M3->MY experience, the car is a little heavier. So once again, my little roadtrip experiment to Waterford is likely to wind up in the same place as I have today; 50% usage to do the trip.

The worry that the tech is moving at breakneck speeds to obliterate any old vehicle is nonsense. Car manufacturers overblew the demand for new cars, which has resulted in a lot of ex-PCP cars selling for devaluated amounts, which is actually great for consumers, though bad for the initial purchaser who maybe wanted to cash-in on a good BIK deal. The yield being that if I need a second car as the kids get older, a second-hand Taycan is absolutely the twinkle in my eye.

But this is no different to the tech in ICE. Combustion engines improve all the time; literally every year. More efficient power usage, consumption stats and things like noise, etc. get better. Every year they get iteratively better. But I bet if you measured ICE improvement against the journey cost, it gets worse as the cost of fossil goes up. And I've noticed folks YOLOing through the climate crisis from a car perspective; heavy right-feet with no consideration to how much money is being spent by doing such a manoever, etc. etc.

And while, sure, cars are bad etc. They have a use. Some of that use is pleasure. I love driving, I think it's great to have man & machine join forces. I love motorsports, even the eSport variants of motor racing. And yes, cycling & public transport are by far the better options when commuting or being in urban areas. But having a car in the drive with a family makes life so much easier for shopping, weekend activities and things like doing our trips down to Waterford or my wife's family in Cork. EVs also make the cost of running infinitely cheaper than an ICE given the lack of moving parts.

So while I'm not advocating for the wiping out of public transport or cycling (I cycle to work, and would rather have a toenail ripped off than commute by car), I am advocating for the use of EVs. And the online 'banter' around them right now is a bit concerning from a perception standpoint. EV associations, elected officials and companies invested in EVs need to get loud.

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Published on: 13th October, 2024

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