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Big electric trucks and SUVs are the new gas guzzlers

Quartz: “New lines of electric trucks and SUVs are hitting the roads. Automakers are marketing vehicles like Tesla’s Cybertruck, Ford’s F-150 Lightning, Rivian’s R1T pickup truck, and GMC’s Hummer EV to customers who prefer driving big vehicles, no matter their fuel efficiency. These new EVs promise drivers the same heavy-duty performance as a combustion engine without burning a drop of oil, with marketing materials that boast of their horsepower, toque, and “watts to freedom” acceleration. But as EVs get bigger, they consume more energy—and, indirectly, generate more carbon emissions. EVs charge their batteries by plugging into power grids, which generate most of their electricity by burning fossil fuels: Coal, oil, and natural gas account for nearly two-thirds of global electricity production. Until electric utilities transition from fossil fuels to renewable power sources like wind and solar—which, even under ambitious targets, won’t happen until the 2030s—the most extreme EVs will generate carbon emissions rivaling some hybrid and gas-powered cars. But even these inefficient EVs can play a role in cutting carbon emissions, if they can convince people who drive gas-guzzling cars and trucks to go electric…”

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