Alex, thanks for reading and for your response.
Metres/dollar sounds good and is indeed a more practical unit where as m/kJ speaks rather to an engineer or physicist. More general, metres/dollar = metres/kJ * kJ/dollar is a product of how far one kJ takes you and the energy you get for a dollar, hence a combination of energy intensity and energy price, expressible in any currency unit.
As for climate change, yes I agree, it is more of an economic problem, or a systems problem involving an economic system based on its premises and metrics (such as GDP). There is and has been a whole movement questioning the established models, e.g. Tim Jackson in his book "Prosperity without Growth", or Kate Raworth in "Doughnut Economics" to name but a few. One aspect of this flawed economics is consumerism, the pursuit of convenience and the substitution of productivity gains with more consumption based relying on an endless pool of resources. Well I could go on and on.
More concretely, personal mobility needs to be addressed in that order (https://peter-wurmsdobler.medium.com/thoughts-on-the-energy-and-carbon-saving-potential-for-personal-mobility-a2cc3de39f76): avoidance, urban planning, shared means of transport of which autonomous vehicles may play a part at some point, walking, cycling, ride hailing, and as a last resort personal mobility. While BEV offer some gain, they are not the solution (https://peter-wurmsdobler.medium.com/electrification-of-vehicles-carry-on-with-habits-and-business-as-usual-11b9633cc9a8).
With regards to transport of goods, again and foremost: avoidance and circular economy. And for the rest, consider logistics optimisation; there would be quite some gain, relying on rail for long distance transport. Autonomous lorries may help but do not go all the way. https://peter-wurmsdobler.medium.com/reducing-resource-expenditure-for-the-procurement-of-household-goods-e9851474d8db . In the end, an economic system that allows living within the means is required. https://peter-wurmsdobler.medium.com/prosperity-within-material-boundaries-ff0ed36d5111 may help realising that.
Bottom line, maybe it is the human condition that is the root cause, and we are destined to evolve ourselves out of the evolution. Perhaps our cats should be in charge.
