MAP Strategic Wealth Advisors

Electric Vehicles are Bringing out the Worst in Us

Five takeaways:

1. This article argues that while it is crucial to address climate change by transitioning the automotive industry away from fossil fuels and towards electricity, the current emphasis on large, battery-powered SUVs and trucks by car manufacturers perpetuates a harmful American culture of wanting to drive bigger, faster, and heavier vehicles.
2. The increasing trend towards bigger cars makes for less space on the road, increasing the possibility of accidents. It also disproportionately endangers pedestrians– pedestrian fatalities reached a 40-year-high in 2021.
3. Electric version of SUVs and Trucks tend to be even heavier than their gas-guzzling counterparts, due to the addition of huge batteries. For example, the new electric Chevrolet Silverado EV will weigh 8000 pounds– 3000 more than the gas-powered version.
4. As car manufacturers focus on creating faster and larger vehicles, they are missing an opportunity to make electric vehicles safer than their gasoline-powered counterparts- eschewing potential safety-minded design changes the EV technology might allow.
5. To truly maximize the overall benefit of the advance of electric vehicles into the mainstream, we must push manufacturers and lawmakers to ensure the development of smaller, cleaner vehicles are needed to address the emissions problem– without creating a new class of dangerous cars that rule the road.

From David Zipper at The Atlantic:
Read the whole story.

Note: At the time of this posting The Atlantic offers five free article views per month.