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It’s Earth Day. And in what’s become a Green Car Reports Earth Day tradition, it’s time to revisit the litmus test for how much the vehicle market has changed.
The question: “When was it considered morally wrong to buy a vehicle with exhaust?”
Or, to paraphrase and clarify: When would driving around your neighborhood, blowing exhaust fumes, be considered inconsiderate or socially irresponsible?
When is it morally wrong to buy a car with a muffler?
— Green Car Report (@GreenCarReports) April 22, 2023
Since the site first asked a version of this question in 2014, and since it was last reviewed back in 2019, the level of awareness about EV has been exponentially higher — and even the people of Ludd saw it happen and were a little worried about what was happening. the vehicle may be of value at trade-in time.
The clean air era of coronavirus termination has also brought us to a deeper level of awareness of local air quality, with fossil fuel-based particles contributing to higher and more Covid-19 death rates. As a Cornell University study showed last year, lower levels of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) from automotive exhaust pipes could save 1,163 premature deaths each year in the Los Angeles metro area alone—corresponding to an economic benefit of $12.61 billion.
EVs have always been better for keeping pollution out of your immediate environment, but now it’s getting harder to argue that EVs aren’t better for the environment in every use case. Based on the full lifecycle of a vehicle, the emissions associated with EVs are significantly lower than comparable new gasoline vehicles anywhere you go in the US. As a 2020 UK study found, electric cars are cleaner than petrol cars in 95% of the country. world.
2021 Volvo S90 (hidden exhaust tip)
The visual cues of an internal combustion engine may even be out of date. Oversized grilles, hood vents and accented exhaust have long been part of automotive design. But in search of signs, one of the strongest examples is Volvo’s axle in 2020 to start covering the exhaust ends on its plug-in hybrids.
As former Volvo global head of design, Robin Page, told Green Car Reports: “By removing a feature that used to stand out, we’re not just sending a message saying it’s no longer needed, but we’re able to simplify it. the design further expresses Scandinavian luxury.”
At the time, Page noted that the design choice recognized the push for cleaner cities and environmental improvements, and visually bridged the company’s switch to fully electric cars.
The Dodge Charger Daytona concept
That’s probably enough to think that this isn’t a fad. But that’s certainly a different philosophy change from the Dodge Stellantis brand, which in last year’s Daytona Charger Concept showed a real exhaust system that makes noise even if it’s not particles and CO2.
Even if you drive a model with an internal combustion engine, do you want to hide the exhaust? If you have an EV, do you still want exhaust sound? Add your comments below, and vote above in the polls Monday morning!
—
h/t to John Voelcker for a reminder
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