One of the worst bureaucracies for sending CO2 emissions is domestic and short-haul flights. BC’s BEIS/Defra studies in 2019 found that flights on routes of 700 km (438 miles) or less produce 29% more CO2 according to the user consistent with km. or miles traveled than longer flights, but autonomous battery-electric cars can particularly reduce the need for this mode of transportation, or even make it obsolete and thus reduce emissions.
The BBC study argued that a domestic flight would produce 254 g/km of CO2 equivalent to the passenger, compared to 195 g/km for long-haul flights. On the other hand, even a diesel car emits on average only 171 g / km. If a circle of relatives of 4 is glued, it descends to 43 g / km. However, other people still don’t base much of their means of transportation on their carbon footprint from the car, although that’s changing. Are popular is speed.
A flight from London to Edinburgh takes approximately 1h30. Even if you count an extra hour and a part to check in, an hour to get to the airport, and an extra hour at the finish line to succeed at your final destination, it’s still only five hours in total. Take 7-8 hours if you’re lucky, and you’ll probably have to avoid the halfway point to take a break. You’d also be tired when you arrive, so it wouldn’t be a smart solution if you plan to end a day at an assembly once you reach your destination.
Of course, exercises can be incredibly low in carbon, but they are regularly slower than flying. Returning to this BBC report, the prices of domestic trains are 41 g/km, consistent with those of passengers and the Eurostar from London to Paris, an incredible 6 g/km. But in the UK and other parts of the world, exercises are an expensive means of transport, rather than flying, and you still have the drawback of having to move to an exercise station to do an exercise. as long as you pass by the airport, but you can charge a few hours for the trip. So, the 4. 5-hour exercise adventure from London to Edinburgh can take about the same amount of time from door to door as driving, and a few more hours. than the plane.
This is where autonomous electric cars can particularly adjust the balance. In theory, a BEV emits 0 g / km, this is about employing completely renewable energy sources. Let’s say we stick to the UK and the London-Edinburgh route, still. using the average balance of the UK network. Last year, the UK’s national grid generated an average of 181g of CO2 consistent with kWh, its greenest year to date. But suppose the worst and say 3, this gives us 60 g of CO2 consistent with miles, or 37. 5 g/km. Put four other people in the car, and that comes down to user-consistent 9. fourg/km – in other words, much higher than domestic trips via exercise or trainer in the UK, and it comes close to the electrified Eurostar.
From London to Edinburgh, there are just over 400 miles, which exceeds the maximum of all existing electric vehicles, but a Mercedes EQS could carry such a good car with its 481-mile range, and you’ll probably want a break at some point anyway. Assuming a maximum charge of 40p ($0. 55) consistent with kWh for fast public charging, the trip would charge £53 ($73) in electric power (however, the maximum will likely be much less). , but the maximum is at least twice as expensive, and regularly much more. Book an exercise well in advance and it will be more reasonable, but in a different way it will also be more expensive. However, with 4 other people in the car, the value of the ride by electric car would only be £13 ($18), according to what corresponds to a child, which no reasonable exercise ticket can match.
Now autonomous driving. You choose short-haul flights for speed, and flights and exercises because you can do anything else while traveling. An autonomous car would have the same meaning. You can work, watch a movie, read a book, eat, or even sleep in transit. Also, you don’t want to come and go from an airport or exercise station at either end: the car deserves to be able to take you to the door. This would likely make up for the slightly longer travel time than the plane, as you would possibly have no trouble getting on and off a public transport vehicle or (in the case of a plane) having to check in luggage and then pick it up at your destination. You will probably feel much more comfortable when you arrive.
Of course, all this is hypothetical, since there are still no autonomous cars that can take you from the door of your house in London to the door of your hotel in Edinburgh, some think they have many more years left than the optimists as Elon Musk suggests, but when they arrive, autonomous electric cars will mean that taking a short-haul flight will end up being polluting and expensive in comparison, while trains will be expensive and less convenient. end of short-haul advertising flights as we know them.
I am the editor of the independent electric vehicle WhichEV. I have over 25 years of experience as a generation journalist and a great love for cars.
I am the editor of the independent electric vehicle WhichEV. I have over 25 years of experience as a technology journalist and a great love for cars, so combining the two has been a dream come true. When I became one of the first people to drive a Nissan Leaf in 2011 I love how design and automotive devices blend into electric cars, making them fun and technically fascinating. to the fight against climate change and metropolitan pollution. In addition to being editor-in-chief of WhichEV, I am The Pathway Director of the City’s Master of Interactive Journalism, University of London. I have a PhD in Communications Philosophy and I played trumpet, once I recorded a consultation with Velvet Underground drummer Moe Tucker.