> “It makes no sense, as there are other, riskier cars out there. Let me know if you recommend any insurer for the truck. I have eight cars with an amazing record. I will be canceling my entire Geico policy!! Bye-bye!”
Each car will likely get used less under him, and then eventually sold/gifted to others at a discounted rate. Those cars will most likely get used through their useful lifespan without any more or less effect on the world than they would have otherwise.
TLDR: If he buys a car a year, and drives the same number of miles as the average American, his total emissions are probably equal to someone who drives 28k miles a year.
Carbon emissions for a Model 3 vs a Toyota Corolla even out after 13'500 miles according to Argonne National Laboratory [1], which is slightly less than the average an American drives per year (14'263 miles [2]). Assuming that he drives as much as the average driver, his cars generate as much Co2 as a Model 3 (definitely not true for the Cybertruck, but he probably has low-build-emission ICE cars in the other 8 to lower the average), and he buys a car a year, he has roughly the equivalent emissions of someone who drives twice the average number of miles each year. For reference, a long haul driver (of which there are 300k-500k in the US [3]) drives 100-110k miles [4] a year (7-8x the average).
Absent things that are pure math isn't everything Humanity "knows" basically a series of, while highly supported by evidence in a lot of cases, just assumptions about the way things really work?
There’s no pure math in making assumptions about someone’s registrations. In optimal situation one may ask a question. In suboptimal one has to give a benefit of the doubt. An example: lawyers don’t assume. Almost everyone else just assumes stuff. Assuming and not seeking for verification is why there’s so much disconnect between individuals.
Eight cars. Eight. Our planet (for humans anyway) is truly screwed.