Are Hybrids and EVs safe for the enviroment ?

[Frank Lee]

An organism or system can fail from too much and/or too little of anything.

[roflwaffle]

Or it can fail from not having too much or too little of anything! Failure is inevitable!

P.S. People die sooner or later!

[Frank Lee]

But there's the quality of life in the meantime.

[rmay635703]

I voted you are overreacting.

The truth is rare earths are found in small quanitites in all fossil fuels, along with more dangerous things such as mercury, lead, arsenic etc.

So in reality the real question is not are EVs bad for the environment but are they MORE safe than the alternative.

Because as the advertisement says there is no safe cigarette and there is also no 100% environmentally friendly externally fueled internally power car.

Even human waste is bad for the environment afterall just as the ToyotaUSA Youtube Channel video below demonstrates

[CigaR007]

I believe the disposal of such materials should be done in a way that it will not harm the environment or at least minimize its impact. Basically the whole chain of transformation has to be done in accordance with strict environmental policies. One key point remains, pollution will never cease to exist. It is constantly being relocated.

[JasonG]

Originally Posted by NeilBlanchard

Lithium batteries are generally not toxic at all (unlike lead acid), and the materials are very valuable, so like lead acid, there will be a very high rate of recycling.

Tell ya what Neil, we'll sit down together, I'll consume 2oz of lead if you consume 2oz of lithium and we'll see which is worse.
I'll bring some biodiesel and waste veggie oil to sip on why they attempt to chelate you before its too late.

Sorry folks,

Back on topic:
Jamesqf, I agree that they can be mined soundly.
The same changes were made with aluminum.
I just worry that until the changes are made an increased demand will have a negative effect on the enviroment.

When do we get the "Mr.Fusions" from back to the future ?

[rmay635703]

Originally Posted by JasonG

Tell ya what Neil, we'll sit down together, I'll consume 2oz of lead if you consume 2oz of lithium and we'll see which is worse.
I'll bring some biodiesel and waste veggie oil to sip on why they attempt to chelate you before its too late.

My ev is lead but also to make it fair you should also consume the QTY of arsenic, Mercury and Fluoride contained in a normal 10gallon fill up of gasoline.

Heck just consume the amount of fluoride contained in 10gallons of gasoline and skip the lead and other stuff.

My guess is you hit the floor a second after it hits your tongue.

[Ryland]

Originally Posted by JasonG

Tell ya what Neil, we'll sit down together, I'll consume 2oz of lead if you consume 2oz of lithium and we'll see which is worse.

Lithium batteries have such a small amount of lithium in them that it's not a reasonable comparison, each Nissan Leaf has about 7 pounds of lithium, the rest of the 600 pound battery pack weight is copper, aluminum, plastic and carbon with a few trace amounts of other things in there and with lithium batteries the environmental impact comes mostly from the copper and aluminum when it's both mined and refined.

[JasonG]

Originally Posted by rmay635703

My ev is lead but also to make it fair you should also consume the QTY of arsenic, Mercury and Fluoride contained in a normal 10gallon fill up of gasoline.

Heck just consume the amount of fluoride contained in 10gallons of gasoline and skip the lead and other stuff.

My guess is you hit the floor a second after it hits your tongue.

Your comparison is a tad off.
The gasoline would be comparable to the KWH of electric, both would be painfully lethal.

The point I was making is one cannot say something is nontoxic when it definitely is.

Scary thought: they flouridate city water

While I feel the solution is veg oil (come on alge fuel) even that needs a starter battery.

[rmay635703]

Originally Posted by JasonG

Scary thought: they flouridate city water

While I feel the solution is veg oil (come on alge fuel) even that needs a starter battery.

I agree that using a coal fired plants exhaust to make micro-organizm biosfuel is a much better solution

As to fluoride I can't really figure it out, even the dental association warns against too much fluoride in water, stating that CONSUMED fluoride weakens teath, fluoride held against a tooths surface strengthens them. Makes you wonder why baby water always contains fluoride when a baby usually has no teeth? Must be the aluminum industry trying to find a cheap way of disposing its waste.