Tag: electric cars

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Fuel Efficient And Electric Cars Are Not Enough

We must stop using fossil fuels to power electric cars, and we must all make a huge effort to drive less. Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) are a significant contributor to greenhouse gasses.  The problem with switching to electric cars is: “If Americans drive their electric cars anywhere near as much as they do with their current gas-guzzlers, it would cancel out the carbon reduction brought on by electrification.”

We can’t meet our climate goals with EVs and improved efficiency alone

“…electric vehicles are only as clean as the fuels used to power the grid. Electric vehicles will be charged by fossil fuels until renewables are slowly added to the electric grid. In Hawaii, the data showed that increased emissions from EV charging would have to be offset by further reductions in VMT.”

Read about it:

http://t4america.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/T4A-Climate-3-EVs-are-not-enough.pdf

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Want To Save The Planet? Drive Less.

The bottom line is that we ALL need to drive less. Fuel efficient cars will never be enough. The federal government is buying into the hype that we need more and bigger highways to move more vehicles. The advertising biz is in on the plan too, encouraging us to buy cars that establish our identity, that make us feel powerful, sexy, and even environmentally conscious. The influence is coming from the industry of course, with the constant goal of selling more cars, whether gasoline powered or electric.  The recent introduction of electric cars to Asbury Park is to make it possible to live car-free, but still be able to access a vehicle when necessary. Reduce use, and reduce congestion and the use of fossil fuels. That’s the idea Asbury Park!

“Improvements in vehicle efficiency and vehicle electrification are being undermined by the way we design and spend money on our roadways. New highways, roads, and lanes induce more driving (Vehicle Miles Travleled, or VMT), which leads to more emissions and ultimately more congestion. This is called “induced demand.”  In fact, driving increases in exact proportion with lane-mileage—a 10% increase in lane miles will lead to a 10% increase in driving.
Though building more highways increases emissions, federal transportation spending actually encourages more driving and undermines limited investments in biking, walking, and transit.”

Electric cars won’t save the planet without a clean energy overhaul – they could increase pollution

“EVs have great potential to reduce pollution and give people a more sustainable way to get around – but electricity production must also be clean. It’s not wise to rely completely on scarce natural elements required for producing EVs and alternatives have to be explored. More recycling plants are needed to make the most out of rare elements and governments need to explore ways to ensure a smooth transition to cleaner transportation.”

Read about it:

http://theconversation.com/electric-cars-wont-save-the-planet-without-a-clean-energy-overhaul-they-could-increase-pollution-118012

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Asbury Park One Of 4 Cities to Get Electric Car Stations

EXCITING NEWS!

As an emerging leader in micro-mobility and alternative transportation, Asbury Park is one of 4 cities to be part of the launch of electric cars and charging stations. Each city will have e-Mobility Hubs installed in strategically located destinations.

New Jersey (Urban Transport News): Greenspot, an award-winning startup that specializes in the implementation of electric vehicle (EV) charging projects and e-Mobility Hubs, announces the launch of its state-of-the-art e-Mobility Hubs in four cities: Columbus, Ohio; Newton, Massachusetts; Brookline, Massachusetts; and Asbury Park, New Jersey.

Greenspot currently has stations throughout New Jersey, New York, and internationally in Israel

Read more…

https://urbantransportnews.com/four-e-mobility-hubs-with-ev-charging-stations-launched-in-columbus/

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Cars Are Killing Us

Asbury Park is perfectly designed to support alternatives to cars. Bike share, scooter share, electric car share, jitneys, pedicabs, and more.

This article in The New Yorker, in addition to recent articles in The New York Times,  The Washington Post, The Atlantic, and other respected and well- known publications tells the history and social, health and environmental impacts of automobiles in this country.  It has become clearer that we need to address the problem of #toomanycars.

“The road has emerged as the setting for our most violent illustrations of systemic racism, combustion engines have helped create a climate crisis, and the quest for oil has led our soldiers into war.”

The “Automobile Era” was ushered in by men who saw a way to make a lot of money hustling Americans into thinking that everyone needed, and everyone could afford a car, and that vehicles represented freedom and our very identity.

This author quotes the stats: “Since 1899, more than 3.6 million people have died in traffic accidents (*Let’s make sure we NEVER say “accident”. They’re CRASHES.*) in the United States, and more than eighty million have been injured; pedestrian fatalities have risen in the past few years.”

“In 2018 alone, an estimated 40,000 people lost their lives to car crashes.” Since 1990 1 million people have been killed in car crashes.”

The environment has suffered irreparably from automobile emissions, and from our dependence on gas and oil. Human health has been adversely affected with particulates in the atmosphere.

Let’s keep working toward a car-free Asbury Park.

Was the Automotive Era a Terrible Mistake?

For a century, we’ve loved our cars. They haven’t loved us back.

By 

July 22, 2019

READ IT:

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/07/29/was-the-automotive-era-a-terrible-mistake

 

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Peak Car

Driving in major cities in the US, particularly NYC has become a nightmare of traffic. Do drivers even realize that THEY are traffic?  Car manufacturers are scrambling to build vehicles and keep them on the road for car services, and designing electric cars and self-driving vehicles.  Tragically while young people aren’t buying cars like they used to, the automotive industry in the US is also catering to drivers who love their BIG vehicles.  The current increase in pedestrian deaths has recently been attributed in part to the prevalence of people driving these vehicular behemoths, in which drivers are unable to see more vulnerable road users.  People are killed in these crashes rather than injured by smaller vehicles.  But the fact remains, sales are down.  Can US cities take note of success stories across the globe where human life is prioritized over cars? It’s time. Asbury Park Complete Streets Coalition advocates for street design for people, and we continue to advocate for better, safer ways to get around the city.

This Is What Peak Car Looks Like

By Keith Naughton and David Welch

February 28, 2019

“Meanwhile, mobility services are multiplying rapidly, with everything from electric scooters to robo-taxistrying to establish a foothold in the market. Increasingly, major urban centers such as London, Madrid, and Mexico City are restricting cars’ access. Such constraints, plus the expansion of the sharing economy and the advent of the autonomous age, have made automakers nervous. That’s also pushed global policymakers to consider the possibility that the world is approaching “peak car”—a tipping point when the *killer transportation app of the 20th century finally begins a steady decline, transforming the way we move.

*Editor’s note- was this an intentional description of cars?

Read more…

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2019-02-28/this-is-what-peak-car-looks-like