[perilunar]

> If, one day, the availability of (cheap) oil comes to an end, the omnipresence of the automobile will be history.

I think the years since this was written has shown this to be false. BEVs are steadily replacing ICE vehicles and we have more cars than ever.

[prmoustache]

EVs are better than ICE in term of local emissions, however they do not solve all environmental issues.

The answer is fewer cars and more shared transportation. People always mention lack of public transport possibilities, affordability and rentability but the offer would develop immediately and would be much more efficient than what we have now if private passenger motorized vehicles weren't allowed as it would reduce the overall traffic significantly if only emergency, public and good transports were allowed.

[TedDoesntTalk]

Electrics won’t replace ICE until the range issues in cold weather is figured out.

[speedgoose]

It is figured out though. Pre-heat the battery, or drive a little while before charging. A fast charging stop will significantly heat up the battery, heat that can then be transferred to the cabin.

I live in Norway and for most people, EVs are an improvement during cold weather in my opinion. They get warm inside much faster, drive better, and while the range is obviously a lot lower, it isn’t a deal breaker if you buy a good EV.

EV wouldn’t represent 97% of new car sales in Norway if they were worse in the cold IMHO. The country put incentives but they are phased out and many people don’t mind paying a lot.

[happosai]

Vast majority of worlds population doesn't live in places where cold weather range is a problem. Even where it is, cold weather range is a 3 month inconvenience of having to charge more often.

Yeas sure there are use cases where gasoline is more convenient than BEV. But just because the usecase is relevant for you doesn't mean it's globally relevant in the big picture.

Also how much people are ready take inconvenience depends how much they have to pay for the luxury of using gas. Even ignoring the global warming aspect, the EROI of oil drilling is plummeting. We'll never run out oil, it will just get more and more expensive as the easy sources of oil are all used...

[calmbonsai]

It will be a non-issue with the inevitable additional (charging) infrastructure roll-outs along with mandates for on-board heat-pump battery management.

Just look at what Norway https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plug-in_electric_vehicles_in_N... has done in just 20 years and let's just say it's not known for its warm climate.

[Vasbarlog]

Tell that to the Norwegians.

[adrianN]

Then it looks like it is figured out because BEV is replacing combustion at an ever increasing rate.

[holoduke]

Not only in cold weather. Good luck trailing something big for a long distance even in the summer. In my model X the range is reduced to hardly 150 miles. Really inconvenient.