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Scientists: Electric Vehicles Produce As Many Toxins As Dirty Diesels (dailymail.co.uk)
An anonymous reader writes: Thanks to ongoing efforts to reduce engine emissions, nowadays only 10% to 15% of particulate emissions from traffic are coming from vehicles' tailpipes. The remainder originates in tire, road surface and brake wear. A study by Victor Timmers and Peter Achten published in Atmospheric Environment has now found that the extra weight of electric vehicles causes non-tailpipe emissions to increase by about as much as the omission of the internal combustion engine saves. Atmospheric particulates have been shown to cause cancer, cardiovascular disease and respiratory diseases and are widely considered as the most harmful form of air pollution. Achten said, "We found that non-exhaust emissions, from brakes, tires and the road, are far larger than exhaust emissions in all modern cars. These are more toxic than emissions from modern engines so they are likely to be key factors in the extra heart attacks, strokes and asthma attacks seen when air pollution levels surge." The study shows that non-exhaust emissions a vehicle produces is directly related to its weight. Scientists found that electric and eco-friendly vehicles weighed around 24 percent more than conventional vehicles, which in turn contributes to more wear on the tires.
The engine doesn't turn backwards, it only turns one way. And regen braking from 100mph or even 100kph down to 10mph or kph will take you half s city block. Regen braking is a gimmick that is useless in real life situations. Also I live in a city where majority of streets have a 45mph limit. If you stay at 43, you hit all the lights on green so you never have to stop. I rented a Prius quite a few times and after 3-4 days it was always out of gas and only half a battery left, because it can drive anywhere above 22 mph on electric, and because I'm so light on the accelerator, the engine barely produces enough torque to keep the car moving but not to recharge, and because I hit green there is no need for breaking so no regen. Unless it is a system like a diesel-electric train engine, which only the Volt comes very close to, or can do 700 miles pure electric, then it is just a gimmick. Even the i3 and i5 bmw are a gimmick since their range extenders can't power the car on their own and aren't sufficient to keep the battery level, so when it drains fully you are stranded, with gas in the tank. The volt is probably closest to a practical hybrid as it can come, too bad Chevy screwed it up with the facelift and now it looks like something from the 90s