• Honytawk
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    11 months ago

    The thing is that cars have a huge secondhand market.

    So if you buy a new car, you sell your old one to someone else, who sells their car to someone else, who sell their car to someone else, … all the way until one of the horrible gas guzzlers at the bottom gets finally replaced.

    So in a way it is improving the environment if you look at the whole picture.

    • htrayl@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      Yeah there is far more game theory than the other post implies. Supporting companies in producing EVs and are driving EV technology in a healthy way, and considering down pressure effects for the secondhand market are far more important than your individual emissions over a short period of time.

      Also, not fully convinced by the rule of thumb. It works well when considering the sustainability of static things, but I think it falls apart when considering things that have active impact like cars.

      Here is an article where Reuters found that you only need to drive 13500 miles before an EV is cleaner than an ICE in the US. At a certain point, it is better to push ICE cars into retirement and build EVs.