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    Some further info on my personal transport choices and some wider observations. Archived Message

    Posted by John Monro on January 2, 2020, 9:12 pm

    Did anyone watch the video I attached to my earlier posting. Here it is expertly explained that even if your electric car (as long as it doesn't have a huge battery) is powered by totally non renewable energy, coal or gas, then it is still less CO2 polluting than an ICE car. I'd have to review the video, but the payback time is around four years or less .The CO2 payback time for my Nissan Leaf in NZ is much less than a year, perhaps as little as 4 months average use. As for Tesla batteries, they are themselves made using fully renewable energy, solar in Elon Musk's giga factory so these batteries contain much less embodied CO2 emissions than if they were manufactured in say China. This is not examined in the video as the commentator tried to use averages rather than best case examples. So I think this critique of Tesla is incorrect.

    The whole point of renewable generation is to have a circular economy, so that the renewable generators are themselves manufactured by renewable generators. Many of the less favourable equations related to EV cars will continue to improve, but they won't ever improve for ICE cars. The main problem with Lithium is that it's not available in high concentrations like say iron ore and whether there's enough lithium to go round. There's a lot of argument about this but for the moment it's estimated there's enough lithium for a billion EVs. But who knows? Of course there are environmental concerns re lithium, but they apply to almost every sphere of industrial activity round the planet, steel, concrete, oil, gas, mining, sand - you name it. In fact, it's the cobalt that probably remains the most environmentally challenging part of battery production.

    I would question the argument about the "diversion" of renewable power to cars. For those with solar power installed, then I accept that. But for the wider community, that's not a failure of any scientific or energy principle, but a failure of electrical power systems around the world to invest wisely or sustainably. Mostly they're privatised and their commercial interests are far removed from the wider societal interests. I mean, we all know that it's totally ridiculous that Australia still generates the greater part of its electricity from coal when Australia's wind and solar resources are probably the best on the planet and they have a government in total denial about global warming, even as its own citizens and wildlife burn to death. I should add that my Chademo connected BEV is reversible (CCS presently isn't) and means I could, theoretically, power my home from power stored in my BEV or even contribute to the grid. (P2H or P2G). This has huge potential for evening out the peaks and troughs of power production and usage and for personal solar power storage. And did I mention local pollution of the air with CO2, fumes, smell, particulates and noise related to ICE cars and HGV?

    By the end of my trip to see the in-laws, I would have travelled around 1,200 km. In my previous car, a Honda Jazz , a small hatchback (brilliant little car by the way) I would have had to burn a bit over two tankfuls of fuel to do this distance at 6 l/100km approx. = 72 litres. Each litre represents 2.3kg of CO2 = 165 kg CO2. Because about 20% of NZ power is gas, then I would in my Nissan Leaf have produced a small amount of CO2 - not sure exactly how much but it'd be less than 10kg. The other thing is that my Nissan Leaf would be saving the country quite a bit of money, as all our fuel for transport is imported, that's a saving of about $100. In addition it would cost me about $100 for fuel, my battery powered car will cost quite a bit less, not as much as I'd like as fast chargers are expensive, and in my car, as the batteries warm up, the slower and the more expensive the charge (there's a time payment as well as a kwh payment), but the real savings come from home charging.

    Public transport to achieve the same journey would involve a bus 20km to the railway station, with about four trains per day, travelling the "wrong" way to Wellington for an hour, then a "Northern Explorer" train to Hamilton and Auckland, which takes 12 hours and only runs one trip on three days of the week. Then as the family live in the countryside themselves, I'd have to rely on them picking us up in their own car, no bus service there. I could go by coach, which takes a similar amount of time. Or we could fly, but again, getting to the transport hub, and being picked up again. In each case, we'd be burning fossil fuels anyway, the train, the coach, the airplane. Not having a car in our situation would be very constraining indeed. Not having a car in Wellington would be a bit constraining but feasible. But dogs are not allowed on public transport or in taxis in NZ generally, so taking them to the beach or a bit further afield would be impossible.

    The really annoying thing is that our power companies are all privatised or partially privatised and they are profiteering and corrupt. So perhaps a solar power pack on my property might be in order, except I might not be staying there- everyone has individual circumstance which differ, that's why it's so important that governments get involved for the wider community's interests. Solar power installation in NZ is cowboy country, lots of dubious promises, and lots of changes of ownership and bankruptcies etc. The lack of support for solar and wind power by even this nominally Green/Labour government is just criminal.

    The main problem for me is how do I justify owning a private car at all? I think I might have made a lifestyle mistake when I moved to a more rural area three years ago from Wellington. NZ is highly car dependent and honestly, I don't think I'd wish to have a lifestyle here without personal transport. We use trailers for green waste, a car to carry building and DIY materials, and we have two dogs. In Wellington, public transport and taxis might mean less need for a car, though of course most Wellingtonians would rather lose a leg than not have a car!

    In regard to bicycles, we do have bicycles and I have an electric bike, Until I retired last year, at the age of 72, in Wellington, I commuted every day 12 kms in each direction, involving a steep hill of around 200 metres elevation, to work on my electric bike. Since moving to Martinborough, we only live about 700 metres from the "centre" and the shops but I use my electric bike all the time for this. I also bike for fitness and pleasure, most days around 10kms but also once or twice a week a round trip of 40 - 50 kms without using the power. I mean, that really isn't bad for this septuagenarian.

    I'm just doing the best I can within the means I have. My battery powered car is worse for the planet than no car, but one hell of a lot better than an ICE car. There are now about 20,000 BEVs in NZ, but the infrastructure to support them is pathetic. On my journey here, mostly on the main north-south road of the country, the equivalent of the A1, there are just 11 fast chargers in a distance of 650 kms. All but one site have just the one charger. In Hamilton, just near where I'm staying there's ONE fast charger for a city of over 165,000 people. The government say they wish to see 60,000 BEVs by 2021, but where are they going to get their electricity on a longer journey? At least Tesla know what to do, their Taupo facility had four 100kw chargers, whilst everyone else has to share one 50kw charger. There are no chargers faster than 50kw that I am aware of. Also level two chargers have only been installed in NZ in the last couple of years, there are a couple of dozen or so in central Auckland, a city of 1.5 million people, and about a dozen in Wellington There are two level two chargers in one location for the 650 kms in between.

    Contrast this with Norway, similar population and size of country, similar renewable generation, now has 300,000 BEV and massive infrastructural support. The difference between Norway and NZ is not geographic or even economic, but is purely cultural. Norway's citizenry accepts active government and government accepts this challenge, New Zealanders for the most part resent it and its governments avoid the challenge. .

    We have to start somewhere, now. That's what I've done. I will not save the planet, but I will contribute a small but measurable saving in CO2 emissions, and improve slightly the local environment, and I will partly salve my conscience. That's all.

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