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Energy saving tip number 1
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Drive an electric car…
It’s best to try to avoid driving whenever you can by planning your errands, living close to work/stores, car-pooling, walking or riding a bike. But if you need to drive, an efficient electric car can save a lot of energy (and money).
Here are some other advantages to driving an electric vehicle…
- low maintenance (no regular oil changes, less wear on brakes, less heat damage, fewer moving parts, no muffler or emission system...)
- if you charge at home, you can always start with a full “tank” in the morning
- much lower cost of fuel
- much quieter ride
- it safer because electric vehicles don’t explode or spill fuel like putt-putt cars
- no smell of gasoline on your hands
- avoid the adverse health effects of petrol
- electric vehicles have more self-driving features
- no smelly exhaust fumes
- no need to start or warm up the engine, save time
- often no need to stop to refuel just charge overnight at home, at work or while you shop
- less noise pollution
- no oil leaks in your parking spot, or on the roadway, or on waterfowl
- it’s better for the planet
The prices of electric vehicles continue to fall and more used EV’s are available for those on a tighter budget. And the range of electric vehicles continues to increase. Future EV’s will have a longer range than putt-putt cars.
Electric vehicle models each have different fuel efficiencies which are designated in watt-hours per km (or per mile) like 240 Wh/km, or sometimes as miles (km) per kilowatt-hour, like 4.3 mi/kWh. Watt-hour and kilowatt-hour are measures of energy, kind of like liters (gallons) of fuel. If it’s designated as energy per distance (Wh/mi or Wh/km) you want a lower number.
#germany #nordstream2 #russia #ukraine #oil #heat #water #fuel #gas #energy #science #nato #eu #europe #driving #electric #car
(image: Alexander Megl, CC-SA-BY-4.0)
Walking has always been the greenest.
@Pat Is this a joke? I mean really, calling for individual mobility when public would be so much more efficient...
>"@Pat Is this a joke? I mean really, calling for individual mobility when public would be so much more efficient..."
It says, "It’s best to try to avoid driving whenever you can by planning your errands, living close to work/stores, car-pooling, walking or riding a bike."
@Pat Hmm it does. The main point is the electric car though, and i do find that problematic.
I'd say "<many other things>, and if you cannot manage without an individual car, choose an electric one".
@Pat I'm sorry if i flew off the handle a bit there, i think this reminded me too much of why i can't take a certain publication seriously anymore.
Those electro SUVs are something else, wasteful with a figleaf of "clean"... and i have seen them lauded as completely clean.
Yeah, that's why I talked a lot about the efficiency of electric cars in the toot. You still need to get one that uses less fuel, even if the fuel is electrons.
@Pat From what i hear the public rail system is even worse in the usa than here... and our public rail system is fabled for its cuts on maintenance ^^
>"From what i hear the public rail system is even worse in the usa than here... and our public rail system is fabled for its cuts on maintenance ^^"
I'm not a big fan of public transit. I'd never use it during this pandemic anyway -- too dangerous. Also, I like to plan my errands to go to multiple places in one trip and that means I most likely will need to carry around more stuff than I could carry by myself on public transport.
Do you live in Germany, if you don't mind my asking?
@Pat
> Do you live in Germany, if you don't mind my asking?
I don't mind, and yes i do.
Your points are valid, yet connected to other problems, i would say.
The danger comes mainly from inadequate measures (repealing mask mandates before scientists would recommend for example).
And multiple errands in one trip... i'd say less buyswork in general would equal more time to do multiple trips without feeling stressed about the lost time, yes?
I group my errands to save on energy. I live in a rural area so it results in substantial energy savings.
@Pat Ah, rural public transport, a difficult beast. I'd say we (worldwide) should have at least some, but i do understand it will never be enough to completely cover all needs.
I think small public autonomous vehicles might be a solution in rural areas. (like autonomous taxis)
public = available to the public, not necessarily publicly owned/operated
@Pat
Can I have one that doesn't have any kind of telemetry or dependence on auto maker's servers?