Is Keeping Your Old Car Better For The Environment?
What it is
Engineering Explained compares the lifecycle emissions of keeping an old car with those of buying a new, more efficient one. It weighs manufacturing emissions against emissions from driving, and covers gas versus electric cars.
Why Hacker News recommends it
HN commenters cite it in EV and emissions debates for its numbers on when replacing a car pays off.
- 2 people recommended it
- 2 different months
- 0 strong recommendations
- first 2021, last 2025
What HN commenters said
“Skip to 6 minutes in the video for when he starts showing compiled data of when its better to buy a new car vs keep old.”
Compiled data on when buying a new car beats keeping an old one.
farisjarrah, 2021-09 · Recommendation · in “Tesla pushes U.S. to boost fuel economy penalties”
“the linked video provides lots of numbers”
Provides numbers showing a new EV pays back its footprint in about five years.
widdershins, 2021-10 · Recommendation · in “The race to grab all the UK’s lithium before it’s too late”
Excerpts from Hacker News comments, linked to the originals. Summaries and labels were written by a language model from those comments.
Topics: electric vehicles, fuel economy, carbon footprint, used cars, manufacturing emissions
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