I am going to have to check the numbers.

According to one report the airlines in the USA use about 19 billion gallons of fuel per year. LIthium mining uses 21 billion gallons of fuel every year. The mines produce enough lithium to make about 250,000 car batteries a year. Now that doesn't cover the amount of energy needed to run those 250,000 cars or the manufacture of the cars. If you consider each battery lasts about 10 years that means you have to add 8400 gallons per year to the energy used to run the vehicle to come up with the amount of energy used by an electric car per year. Remember that 8400 gallons per year is counted whether the car is driven or not. Leave your car in the garage for 2 years and you still have consumed 16,800 gallons of fuel.

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ArishMell · 70-79, M

An internal-combustion vehicle still uses a heck of a lot of energy to produce and I don't know how well it compares with building the battery equivalent, but I wonder how much those figures you've found account for the batteries degrading over their 10 years?

Do they become less efficient so absorb more electricity to recharge for each kW/h output, than when they are new?

I don't believe they are quite the wonderful things those pushing for them like to claim! Though there is no way I will ever be able to put it to the test personally, by owning a battery-electric car.

hippyjoe1955 · 61-69, M

@ArishMell The math I used was all about the battery. It had nothing to do with the actual vehicle since all vehicles have huge energy inputs in their production.

ArishMell · 70-79, M

@hippyjoe1955 Ah, I see. Thank you.