grant.jade•1mo agoMost Upvoted

My brother-in-law in Boise said his new electric truck is just a 'coal-powered truck with extra steps'

We were talking over the weekend and he pointed out that his power grid is still mostly fossil fuels, so his shiny new F-150 Lightning is just moving the pollution from his tailpipe to the power plant. It hit different because he's a contractor who actually needs a truck, not someone making a statement. Made me realize we push EVs as the only answer without fixing the grid first. Anyone else run into this kind of practical pushback from people who aren't against climate action, but see the flaws in how we're doing it?

3 comments

3 Comments

william_jackson1mo ago

That line about moving the pollution from the tailpipe to the power plant is a good one. It misses the bigger picture though, which is that a power plant is way better at turning fuel into motion than a car engine is. Even on a dirty grid, you're still burning less coal or gas overall to drive the same distance. The efficiency math is solid.

keith2791mo ago

Ever check the actual numbers on that? I looked it up once and even with transmission losses, the big plant still comes out way ahead.

patkelly27d ago

You know what, my buddy had this exact same talk with his neighbor last month. The guy drives a ton for work and was looking at an EV, but he pulled up the local grid mix online and just got stuck on the coal part. He ended up keeping his old truck for now, saying he'd wait until more solar came online in our state. It's a real hang-up for some folks, even when you explain the whole efficiency thing.