HACKER Q&A
📣 readonthegoapp

What would happen if we did _not_ electrify cars?


What would happen if we did _not_ electrify cars?


  👤 scantis Accepted Answer ✓
Gasoline would run out in about 50 years, but we have been wrong about this prediction so many times over, that it probably last forever. We would burn the gasoline to power anyway to fuel the electric car, so it is not an issue at all. We would switch to synthetic methanol, that can be produced very cheaply with CO2, water and energy. Bio fuels have the disadvantage of actually burning potential food supply, Haiti had to suffer great hunger because of that once and we should not repeat it. We may will and it would be very bad.

Without electrified cars, much less resources would be required to produce batteries and electric infrastructure. We would produce less harmful waste in the long run.

The battery electrified car does not have a better ecological footprint, as of now. It only has the potential to perform better, if we would use more renewables and less toxic and polluting processes... Which we also probably won't, cause we like our stuff cheap.

So nothing much will happen, but there is a big chance that not electricfying the car could be better for the environment and the climate. If we would act smart about it.


👤 MattGaiser
Depends on what we do about climate change at that point. If nothing, we probably continue to use gasoline/diesel. If we still want to take action, it is going to be about biodiesel. Byebye rainforest at that point.