Regardless of how you power it, bringing thousands of pounds of steel with you to get to work or buy grocceries is inefficient. Cities really need to rethink the way they build and zone to promote higher densities and encourage walkability.
It’s not even the energy that’s really the issue; it’s the space. Cars ruin cities by physically forcing origins and destinations to be far apart with wastelands of pavement in between. It destroys the viability of transit, makes it both laborious and downright unpleasant to walk, and even screws cities over financially because worthless pavement doesn’t generate tax revenue, but costs a lot to maintain.
I agree but I do think that for the majority of people it would be easier to go from a fuel car to an electric car then it would be to having no car at all. Even if they don’t use it daily it still offers them a feeling of freedom and flexibility. I know that you can also achieve that feeling using public transport / walking and cycling everywhere (Dutchie here) but it’s quite the transition for people if you didn’t grow up in an environment like that.
Having a car used to make my life more complicated, not simpler. I had to find a place where to put the damn thing daily, it cost a fortune. Granted, it came in handy once every four or five months. Still, I’m glad to have been car free for the last twenty years or so.
When I need one, I just rent it at one of the shops that are less than a km away. The rest of the time, I use my bike (I can hook a trailer to it if needed), the bus or the metro.
Regardless of how you power it, bringing thousands of pounds of steel with you to get to work or buy grocceries is inefficient. Cities really need to rethink the way they build and zone to promote higher densities and encourage walkability.
It’s not even the energy that’s really the issue; it’s the space. Cars ruin cities by physically forcing origins and destinations to be far apart with wastelands of pavement in between. It destroys the viability of transit, makes it both laborious and downright unpleasant to walk, and even screws cities over financially because worthless pavement doesn’t generate tax revenue, but costs a lot to maintain.
I agree but I do think that for the majority of people it would be easier to go from a fuel car to an electric car then it would be to having no car at all. Even if they don’t use it daily it still offers them a feeling of freedom and flexibility. I know that you can also achieve that feeling using public transport / walking and cycling everywhere (Dutchie here) but it’s quite the transition for people if you didn’t grow up in an environment like that.
Its moreso the environment that allows a car free life to feel possible does not exist in the majority of American cities.
By design.
Having a car used to make my life more complicated, not simpler. I had to find a place where to put the damn thing daily, it cost a fortune. Granted, it came in handy once every four or five months. Still, I’m glad to have been car free for the last twenty years or so.
When I need one, I just rent it at one of the shops that are less than a km away. The rest of the time, I use my bike (I can hook a trailer to it if needed), the bus or the metro.