My neighbor told me to skip the electric car and just keep my old truck

He said fixing my 2008 Ford was better for the planet than making a new battery. So I spent $2,500 on repairs last year. Now my mechanic says the engine is shot and I need a new vehicle anyway. Has anyone else gotten bad advice that delayed a real switch to something greener?

4 comments

4 Comments

amy_lewis1mo ago

Ugh, that's rough. I feel like keeping an old gas car running forever isn't the real win. Getting into an efficient vehicle, even used, cuts your ongoing pollution way down.

henry_murray1mo ago

Yeah, that's a tough spot. Amy_Lewis has a point about ongoing pollution. Sometimes the greener choice is just getting into a more efficient vehicle, even if it's used.

hannahcraig1mo ago

Actually, the math on that gets tricky. Henry_Murray, a used Prius with a new battery might be cleaner in the long run, sure. But building a new car, even an electric one, makes a huge mess right at the start. Crushing a perfectly good Corolla that still gets 30 miles per gallon to build a brand new Tesla creates tons of mining waste and factory pollution. Sometimes the greenest car is the one already in your driveway.

simon_carr9d ago

Oh man, totally agree with you @hannahcraig! I did this exact thing with my old Civic - it was getting 28 mpg but ran perfectly fine. I spent like 800 bucks on a tune-up and new tires instead of trading it in for a hybrid, and three years later it's still going strong (knock on wood). People get so caught up in the shiny new EV hype they forget the environmental cost of just making the damn thing in the first place.