AP: The EPA's ambitious plan to cut auto emissions to slow climate change runs into skepticism

[OKIsItJustMe]

The EPA’s ambitious plan to cut auto emissions to slow climate change runs into skepticism

BY TOM KRISHER
Updated 4:35 PM EDT, August 6, 2023

DETROIT (AP) — The U.S. government’s most ambitious plan ever to slash planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions from passenger vehicles faces skepticism both about how realistic it is and whether it goes far enough.

The Environmental Protection Agency in April announced new strict emissions limits that the agency says are vital to slowing climate change as people around the globe endure record-high temperatures, raging wildfires and intense storms.

The EPA says the industry could meet the limits if 67% of new-vehicle sales are electric by 2032, a pace the auto industry calls unrealistic. However, the new rule would not require automakers to boost electric vehicle sales directly. Instead, it sets emissions limits and allows automakers to choose how to meet them.

Even if the industry boosts EV sales to the level the EPA recommends, any reduction in pollution could prove more modest than the agency expects. The Associated Press has estimated that nearly 80% of vehicles being driven in the U.S. — more than 200 million — would still run on gasoline or diesel fuel.

…

[Think. Again.]

1. The spin is becoming ....

....so blatantly obvious.

Every piece of information in that article was reason to be positive about the EPA's efforts (except for the response from "The Alliance for Automotive Innovation" whoever they are) and yet the article as a whole inflicts a negative response somehow.

The fossil fuel industry is sure getting their public relations moneys worth.

[LiberaBlueDem]

2. EPA is trying

But since the market is so large and there is so much $$ from oil and expensive cars, the turnover in cars will be slow. Too slow.

What we need is cheap tiny electric cars for all the tiny cheap trips people make. Then they can leave the gas-guzzlers home most of the time. And with each tiny new car a small solar array to plug in to, making cheap trips even cheaper and cleaner.

And there will never be NPV (Nuclear Powered Vehicles) since bankers would never make a loan for such an expensive and dangerous car.

[Think. Again.]

3. Nuclear Powered Vehicles???

Is that really a thing?

I know that nuclear power plants make electricity by using radioactive materials for heat to boil water to make steam which is then used to turn turbines.

I just can't picture how that would work in a tiny little engine that would fit into a vehicle.

[OKIsItJustMe]

5. Is it a thing? Well, kind of, but, more like a concept.

See: Ford Nucleon


See also Batmobile:

See further, the Perseverance Rover


The Perseverance (unlike the Ford Nucleon) does not have a steam drive. It uses a “radioisotope thermoelectric generator” (“RTG” for short.)

[Think. Again.]

6. Ha!

Great looking designs! But obviously not a thing.

[OKIsItJustMe]

9. In theory, you could use a continually running RTG to charge a large storage battery.

I wouldn’t suggest it though.

Of course, in New York State, all BEV’s are partly charged by nuclear power plants, and partly charged by Niagara Falls… and partly charged by wind & solar, but the largest source is natural gas.

[Think. Again.]

10. Yep,...

...that's the difficulty with "transitioning" away from fossil fuels, it will take additional energy, which currently includes CO2 emitting sources, to build the system that doesn't emit CO2.

That's where a carbon 'investment' comes in that will pay returns in less CO2 over the long run.

The only other option is continuing to emit ever-growing amounts of CO2.

Wish there was a magic bullet, but there isn't.

[OKIsItJustMe]

4. Re: What we need is cheap tiny electric cars for all the tiny cheap trips people make.

What we need is cheap tiny electric cars for all the tiny cheap trips people make. Then they can leave the gas-guzzlers home most of the time. And with each tiny new car a small solar array to plug in to, making cheap trips even cheaper and cleaner.

OK, you’re proposing doubling the number of cars. The fact is, we have too many cars already!

The same end can be met with a "plug-in hybrid" (like the now defunct Chevrolet Volt™.) Before GM introduced the prototypical “EV1,” they studied driving patterns, and found that a 60 mile range was sufficient for the vast majority of needs, or, (as you put it) “the tiny cheap trips people make.”

The “Volt” gave drivers a 60 mile, battery-only range, and a gasoline engine for those exceptional trips when a 60 mile range was not enough. The “Volt” is gone, but the “plug-in hybrid” remains.

Trivia: I remember a time when a “gas-guzzler” was a big old “Detroit” V8, compared to the imported cars like the Datsun 210, which got much better gas mileage. Cars like the Datsun 210 were said to “sip” gasoline, rather than guzzling it.



(It was mileage figures like these that made me so disappointed with the Prius when it was released.)

[Think. Again.]

7. I hear...

...that Chevy has decided not to retire the Chevy Bolt (with a "B&quot after all.

[OKIsItJustMe]

8. I heard an interview with Mary Barra back in June where she all but promised it

https://www.marketplace.org/shows/marketplace/general-motors-goal-all-electric-all-the-time/

So, I was kind of surprised when the headlines came out. In short, it will be a new car, built with the Ultium technology, but with the old name.

[Think. Again.]

11. I just hope it's ....

..a good, inexpensive car.

Now isn't the time for the automakers to make windfall profit, reasonable profit is fine, a sense of moral and social responsibility would be better, but not realistic.

[OKIsItJustMe]

12. The interview made it clear to me, Mary Barra is no fool. She knows what the Bolt means.

CHEVROLET ANNOUNCES NEXT-GEN BOLT

America’s most affordable EV will return to Chevrolet’s growing lineup of all-electric vehicles
2023-07-25

DETROIT – Today, GM Chair and CEO Mary Barra announced during the company’s quarterly earnings conference call that Chevrolet will introduce a next-generation Bolt, continuing to deliver what customers have come to expect: great affordability, range1 and technology.

“Our customers love today’s Bolt. It has been delivering record sales and some of the highest customer satisfaction and loyalty scores in the industry,” said Barra. “It’s also an important source of conquest sales for the company and for Chevrolet.”

“We will keep the momentum going by delivering a new Bolt…and we will execute it more quickly compared to an all-new program with significantly lower engineering expense and capital investment by updating the vehicle with Ultium and Ultifi technologies and by applying our ‘winning with simplicity’ discipline.”

Drawing on various Ultium and Ultifi technological advancements will help GM bring this popular model back to market on an accelerated timeline. Timing and specific details about the next-generation Bolt will be announced at a later date. The Bolt is expected to join Chevrolet’s growing lineup of all-electric vehicles, three of which are launching this year — Silverado EV, Blazer EV and Equinox EV.

…

[Think. Again.]

13. Barra is no fool indeed...

...and takes her public relations role for her company seriously, I'm sure.

Let's just hope she's also a responsible member of humanity.