Posted on 06/09/2023 11:26:51 AM PDT by Red Badger
The actor and comedian behind the popular Mr. Bean character has called on drivers to hold off buying an electric vehicle (EV), saying the environmental benefits do not stack up.
Rowan Atkinson, a long-time motor enthusiast with a degree and master’s in electrical engineering, said current EV technology was more harmful to the environment than it was worth.
“Increasingly, I’m feeling that our honeymoon with electric cars is coming to an end, and that’s no bad thing: we’re realising that a wider range of options need to be explored if we’re going to properly address the very serious environmental problems that our use of the motor car has created,” Atkinson wrote in The Guardian newspaper.
He pointed to figures released by automotive giant Volvo revealing that greenhouse gas emissions during the EV production process were 70 percent higher than building a petrol car.
“How so?” Atkinson said.
“The problem lies with the lithium-ion batteries fitted currently to nearly all-electric vehicles: they’re absurdly heavy, huge amounts of energy are required to make them, and they are estimated to last only upwards of 10 years.
Workers at a factory for Xinwangda Electric Vehicle Battery Co., which makes lithium batteries for electric cars and other uses, in Nanjing in China’s eastern Jiangsu Province, on March 12, 2021. (STR/AFP via Getty Images)
Evaporation pools for the extraction of lithium at the Salar de Uyuni, a vast white salt flat at the centre of a global resource race for the battery metal lithium, outside of Uyuni, Bolivia on March 26, 2022. (Claudia Morales/Reuters)
“It seems a perverse choice of hardware with which to lead the automobile’s fight against the climate crisis,” he said.
He also pointed to current efforts to develop newer technologies, like solid-state batteries, hydrogen fuel cells, and synthetic fuels, but noted more time was needed before they became mainstream.
Atkinson said a bigger problem beyond technology was the current three-year leasing model for car ownership, where owners move onto a new car at the end of the timeframe.
“This seems an outrageously profligate use of the world’s natural resources when you consider what great condition a three-year-old car is in,” Atkinson said, saying owners could just learn to use their cars for longer instead, effectively lowering demand for new vehicles.
Another solution, he said, was for those concerned about the environment to simply drive less.
“As an environmentalist once said to me, ‘If you really need a car, buy an old one and use it as little as possible,'” he wrote.
British comedy icon Mr. Bean at Buckingham Palace to celebrate 25 years, the release of Mr. Bean 25th Anniversary DVD Boxset, and new animated episodes on Boomerang at The Mall in London, England on Sept. 4, 2015. (Stuart C. Wilson/Getty Images for Universal Pictures Home Entertainment)
Comments Spark Fiery Response
Atkinson’s comments have sparked criticism from media outlets (via “fact-checking”), including the Washington Post.
Some experts derided the comedian for his apparent lack of recent energy expertise.
“Love it when a weird, British 90s celebrity who is notably not an energy expert spreads misinformation about EVs on @guardian. Just the best!” Leah Stokes, professor of climate and energy policy at the University of California, Santa Barbara, wrote on Twitter.
Auke Hoekstra, a Dutch EV researcher, claimed Atkinson had “cherry-picked” key facts.
“He’s complaining about current batteries and implying we have to wait for better ones. But the current ones will already last the lifetime of the car, and the car will emit 3x less CO2 over its lifetime. (Yes, I’m sure about this, because that is my actual field of study.),” he wrote on Twitter.
Worldwide Push to Ban Petrol, Diesel Cars
Atkinson’s comments come as governments of developed countries implement bans on the sale of petrol vehicles amid the global push for net zero.
The United Kingdom is considering a ban on new petrol and diesel vehicles from 2030 and hybrids from 2035. The capital London also has an Ultra Low Emissions Zone that forces drivers of cars that are not powered by either hydrogen or batteries to pay a 12.50-pound daily charge.
Meanwhile, in the United States, the California Air Resources Board is pressuring the federal government to approve a ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel-powered vehicles by 2035.
While authorities in the Australian Capital Territory—home to the nation’s capital Canberra—are also moving to establish a similar “zero-emissions” zone like London.
In fact, the ACT’s pledge follows a global agreement by the C40—a grouping of the world’s biggest cities—to only operate zero-emission buses from 2025 and to establish a “zero-emission” zone within their cities by 2030. The pledge was signed by cities like Auckland, Austin, Berlin, London, Los Angeles, Paris, Seattle, and Vancouver.
Just from my own personal observations, I’m seeing fewer EVs on the road than I did a year or two ago.
Though glad to see the left start to admit that EV's aren't the crisp and clean items they're made out to be.
I did not know that the “Black Adder” had a degree and master’s in electrical engineering.
I see more EV's here in Alabama. For clarity, I'm not seeing an increase in Teslas, but I'm seeing other brands.
Ok, fair enough.
Turns out the bride is a knaggy ugly hag.
Exxon and OPEC dont like EVs
what a surprise!
He Had a ‘95 Mclaren F1 — a very nice car.
Got in an accident with it about 5 +/- years ago. Paid $1,000,000 to fix then sold it for $11,000,000.
One was sold in 2021 for $20,500,000...likely worth $30,000,000 now.
He’s certainly not afraid of ICE vehicles.
Mr Bean talks???
It’s funny when you realize the gas motor car was touted as the savior of the environment. Millions of tons of horse manure was deposited on city streets daily. Within twenty years the number was close to zero. The lesson here is, there is no free lunch. There are only tradeoffs. The electric car was a stupid play from the beginning. The fact it has been pushed this far is insane. I expect within twenty years there won’t be any of them left but society will be dealing with their deadly pollution for the next hundred.
Adage: “If a thing seems too good to be true........”
“saying the environmental benefits do not stack up”
this assumes people are buying electric for the environmental benefits.
Faulty premise.
I want one because they are crazy cool tech, wicked fast, and for me would be so very convenient.
My Mach I with a 428 Cobra Jet blows more “pollution” than 25 Accords.
And yep, I don’t drive that for the environmental benefits either.
I’m in Alabama and I’ve seen one Tesla.
Last year, I had to visit the ER. After being released, I was walking to the car and spotted a green Tesla parked close to the door, charging.
I found out later that the car belonged to the ER doctor. It figures.
If you haven’t seen it yet, watch “Man vs. Bee”, hillarious.
I’ll see your Lundgren and raise you Ken Jeong (the Hangover)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_Jeong
Well, yeah, the lifetime of the car is pretty much determined by the useful life of the batteries, you disingenuous Dutch twit.
EVs have their place. But they cannot replace ICE vehicles as the primary autos, it will never be feasible.
(But of course they know that)
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