HackerTube.dev

The Contradictions of Battery Operated Vehicles | Graham Conway | TEDxSanAntonio

TEDx Talks · 4.1M views · 2020-01-31 · 13:59

Open on YouTube ↗

If playback is restricted in your region, try opening the original video. Use Mark watched to add it to your marked videos.

Overview

A TEDx talk arguing that battery electric vehicles are not as environmentally friendly as commonly believed and that the rush to adopt them is misguided. TED flagged it as containing claims that lack scientific support.

On Hacker News

Mentioned only occasionally as a contrarian argument for hybrids over EVs, with no real endorsement.

Discussed on HN; no positive recommendation is recorded in this export · HN mentions 2022–2022

Topics

Cars, EVs & motorcyclesRenewables, batteries & storage
Search by tags
electric vehicleshybridssustainabilitytedxcontrarian

What people said

Patrol8394 · 2022-10 · Reference

I am convinced EV will be the future, but given how electricity is produced and how batteries are built the most sustainable technology is hybrid [VIDEO]

Read the original HN comment ↗
gadflyinyoureye · 2022-07 · Reference

At present the turbines are not recyclable. [LINK] EVs are probably really worse than hybrids. [VIDEO] Solar panels are pretty toxic. Present recycling produces all sorts of toxic waste that might be poorly handled. [LINK] Batteries are often sourced from slave labor. [LINK] Lithium miners often continue exploration of indigenous peoples. [LINK] Lithium mining often poisons the environment. [LINK] The list goes on.

Read the original HN comment ↗
tejohnso · 2022-06 · Reference

> Every claim you make is false Every claim I made is not false. For example I said "electricity is MOST LIKELY not carbon free". If that were false, then are you suggesting that most electricity is carbon free? Are we only talking about vehicles operating in Costa Rica or something? I think it is easy to verify that your statement is incorrect. The comment I was responding to was one sided and without sourced information. I provided an argument for the other side without sourced information as well. I'm not sure that anything I said is wildly false , and I thought it would provide balance. If you're curious, have a look at this TedX [talk]. I just happened across it yesterday so those arguments were top of mind. It's another example of a whole bunch of "facts" being presented with no source so I don't give it much weight but it's a good presentation. [talk]: [VIDEO]

Read the original HN comment ↗

Sources

Video by TEDx Talks, played through YouTube.

Data and selection notes

HN summaries and labels may contain AI errors. HN dates refer to discussions, not video publication.

HN Library: HackerTube export (2026-10-31) and open-index/hacker-news. Upstream summaries and classifications may contain AI errors.

Views, duration and playback status refresh separately from the published catalog. When an update fails, existing data remains visible.

Selection checks
  • SaaS & AI candidates: Topic keywords do not match
  • Editor-approved picks: Editorial review is required

Rule matches identify candidates. They do not guarantee video quality or financial results.

About the library and its sources