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.
Then there was the guy who fell in love with an opera singer. He hardly knew her, since his only view of the singer was through binoculars - from the third balcony.
He was convinced he could live “happily ever after” married to a voice like that. He scarcely noticed that she was considerably older than he. Nor did he care that she walked with a limp. Her mezzo-soprano voice would take them through whatever might come.
After a whirlwind romance and a hurry-up ceremony, they were off for their honeymoon. She began to prepare for their first night together. As he watched, his chin dropped to his chest.
She plucked out her glass eye and plopped it into a container on the night-stand. She pulled off her wig, ripped off her false eyelashes, yanked out her dentures, unstrapped her artificial leg, and smiled at him as she slipped off her glasses that hid her hearing aid.
Stunned and horrified, he gasped, “For goodness sake, woman, sing, sing, SING!”
Mr. Beane is correct...Thank you...
Before Henry Ford became a household name, there were different types of cars made (ICE, EV, even steam) and the few people who could afford a car had options to chose from. Likewise today, an EV car works for my wife and me, and an ICE pickup works for us too -- thus I'm glad we have options. Since we need two cars anyway, having one of each gives us options.
Like the few people who could use an EV car back in Henry Ford's day (the people fortunate enough to live near a power station), I like utilizing power over gas because I have tons of free power from solar. For most people that's not a good option (neither solar, nor an EV). But for me it is, therefore an EV is conducive to our energy supplies (power is much cheaper for me than gasoline, literally 80% of my power is free). At other times an ICE pickup is conducive to our needs of the day (EV pickups suck for pickup chores, plus there are times we drive on trips with few charging options so we take the ICE pickup instead of the EV car). That's not the way it is with most people (who are much better off with ICE cars), much like it was in Ford's day. For most people it's best to use ICE cars all the time.
But imagine how better developed the different car types would be today if the assembly line process didn't require Ford to pick only one type for mass production. For all we know, steam cars might be a good option for some people. And EV's would be better than they are today instead of having to pick back up after a century of no R&D. I'm not saying mass production is a bad thing -- it allowed the middle class to afford cars. I'm just saying an unfortunate side-effect of mass production is we all grew up with only one car type to chose from.
So in some ways, we've now come back full circle to again having multiple car types to choose from. I wish the Dims would let it stay like that instead of trying to force everyone into only one "option".
And that's not including the Tesla's, of which I've seen no growth in numbers here.
They are not all idiots in Hollywood. Peter Weller and Brian May come to mind.
Some excellent thoughts. As for liberals forcing us into only their solution, I think it was George Orwell who said, “they must make you suffer. Otherwise they don’t know if you are following their orders because you want to or because you must.”
Bookmark
The steam cars died a natural death due to multiple technical problems that couldn't easily be overcome at the time (cold start, e.g.) Read all about it here:
The Stanleys and their Steamer
This is a hopeful article by a big fan - who hoped steam would make a comeback . . .
“”I did not know that the “Black Adder” had a degree and master’s in electrical engineering.””
That sort of thing always surprises me, I sometimes post the military history of popular actors and comedians, revealing that they are also real people, or had real lives at one time.
I see more every day. Starting to see the first few Rivians here. One already has a dent in it
Steam cars will be feasible when portable fusion reactors become a reality.
Steam generated by nuke fuel works for ships. Couldn't it be downsized for cars and trucks?
Almost makes you wonder what kind of an education Baldrick has.
He has a cunning plan.
I never heard them say that.
The US has the Sex Poodle.
LOL, yes we do but probably not what you think!
That guy just has a face that makes me laugh every time I see it...kind of like Leslie Nielsen...
. (Yes, I’m sure about this, because that is my actual field of study.),” he wrote on Twitter.“
And ah what’s Volvos field of study, moron?
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