[D66] Biden is touting giant EVs. Are they actually good for the planet?

[René Oudeweg]

washingtonpost.com
Biden is touting giant EVs. Are they actually good for the planet?
Shannon Osaka
3–4 minutes

President Joe Biden has made driving very large electric vehicles a 
signature move of his presidency. When the all-electric Ford F-150 
Lightning came out, the president zipped around a racetrack wearing 
aviator sunglasses. On Monday, the president’s Twitter posted a picture 
of him behind the wheel of a Hummer EV, with the caption: “On my watch, 
the great American road trip is going to be fully electrified.”

The focus on electric cars makes sense. Almost 30 percent of the United 
States’ carbon emissions come from transportation, and the nation’s 
roughly 250 million gas-powered cars, trucks and vans create a huge 
portion of that carbon pollution.

But the president’s focus on some of the biggest vehicles around — the 
Hummer EV, the Ford F-150 Lightning — has raised some eyebrows.

And for good reason. For right now, these huge electric vehicles pollute 
the planet more than small gas-powered cars.

The new Hummer EV weighs 9,000 pounds; its battery alone weighs about 
3,000 pounds, or almost as much as an entire Honda Civic. The Ford F-150 
Lightning clocks in at about 6,000 pounds. That weight means not only 
that gigantic EVs pose a threat to pedestrians (in general, the heavier 
the vehicle, the more fatalities it creates on the road), but also that 
it takes a lot of energy to drag around the car on city or country streets.

And more energy means more carbon emissions. EVs emit different amounts 
of carbon dioxide depending on the electricity mix where they are 
charged; an EV charged in a state where the grid is packed with 
renewables will emit less carbon dioxide than one in a state filled with 
coal. (In almost all geographies, though, EVs emit less carbon dioxide 
than equally sized gas-powered cars.)

According to an analysis by Quartz, a Hummer EV driven on the average 
power grid in the United States emits about 276 grams of carbon dioxide 
per mile; a Toyota Corolla running on gasoline, meanwhile, emits 269 
grams. Small EVs on the other hand — like the Tesla Model 3 or Chevy 
Bolt — release around 97 to 108 grams of carbon dioxide per mile.

So, despite Biden’s enthusiasm, the Hummer EV can hardly be considered a 
“green” vehicle. But the president may be taking a strategic approach to 
getting Americans into electric cars. For years, just saying the words 
“electric cars” sparked visions of the Nissan Leaf or Chevy Bolt — 
small, sensible cars popular with middle-class environmentalist types. 
The Hummer EV is something else — an attempt to get people who aren’t 
remotely environmentalist to get on board the transition to a more 
climate-friendly world. The question is whether it will be worth it.