Can you produce a car without oil? Especially one containing a large battery pack?<p>Last guess I read put it around 350 barrels for a family sedan. I don&#x27;t know how much of that is plastics, smelting, and other materials and how much is energy requirements though (and to be fair, I have no idea how close or not that number actually is to the true cost).<p>But given that it takes some amount of oil at least, doesn&#x27;t that invalidate the argument against increasing efficiency? Because you could call building any sort of car, even a Model S, a loosing battle then.<p>Another thing to think of: if you don&#x27;t have access to a wall plug, and want to provide an air conditioned environment in a vehicle, there&#x27;s no alternative to oil AFAIK for anything smaller than an aircraft carrier. Diesel Generators are the <i>only</i> option for air conditioning on Sailing Yachts for example. Nothing else has enough energy density and you can&#x27;t fit enough renewable (solar, wind, hydro) power to keep up with the amps air conditioning will pull out of it.<p>I know that particular example is very niche. It&#x27;s just an interest of mine and I&#x27;m hopeful we&#x27;ll see some sort of game changer in the next decade or two.