{"id":260963,"date":"2023-06-06T16:21:39","date_gmt":"2023-06-06T14:21:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=260963"},"modified":"2023-06-06T16:21:43","modified_gmt":"2023-06-06T14:21:43","slug":"rowan-atkinson-challenges-electric-cars-as-environmental-panacea","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=260963","title":{"rendered":"Rowan Atkinson Challenges Electric Cars as Environmental Panacea"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From The Daily Sceptic<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By\u00a0RICHARD ELDRED<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Rowan Atkinson, with an engineering background and a passion for cars, expresses skepticism about electric cars as the environmental solution they are claimed to be. He highlights the carbon emissions and resource-intensive manufacturing process of lithium-ion batteries and suggests exploring alternatives like hydrogen and synthetic fuels. Atkinson also advocates for prolonging the lifespan of existing cars and adopting a more sustainable business model in the automotive industry in his article <\/a>for the Guardian<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

Electric motoring is, in theory, a subject about which I should know something. My first university degree was in electrical and electronic engineering, with a subsequent master\u2019s in control systems. Combine this, perhaps surprising, academic pathway with a lifelong passion for the motorcar, and you can see why I was drawn into an early adoption of electric vehicles. I bought my first electric hybrid 18 years ago and my first pure electric car nine years ago and (notwithstanding our poor electric charging infrastructure) have enjoyed my time with both very much. Electric vehicles may be a bit soulless, but they\u2019re wonderful mechanisms: fast, quiet and, until recently, very cheap to run. But increasingly, I feel a little duped. When you start to drill into the facts, electric motoring doesn\u2019t seem to be quite the environmental panacea it is claimed to be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As you may know, the government has proposed a ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars from 2030. The problem with the initiative is that it seems to be based on conclusions drawn from only one part of a car\u2019s operating life: what comes out of the exhaust pipe. Electric cars, of course, have zero exhaust emissions, which is a welcome development, particularly in respect of the air quality in city centres. But if you zoom out a bit and look at a bigger picture that includes the car\u2019s manufacture, the situation is very different. In advance of the Cop26 climate conference in Glasgow in 2021, Volvo released figures claiming that greenhouse gas emissions during production of an electric car are 70% higher than when manufacturing a petrol one. How so? The problem lies with the lithium-ion batteries fitted currently to nearly all electric vehicles: they\u2019re absurdly heavy, many rare earth metals and huge amounts of energy are required to make them, and they only last about 10 years. It seems a perverse choice of hardware with which to lead the automobile\u2019s fight against the climate crisis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unsurprisingly, a lot of effort is going into finding something better. New, so-called solid-state batteries are being developed that should charge more quickly and could be about a third of the weight of the current ones \u2013 but they are years away from being on sale, by which time, of course, we will have made millions of overweight electric cars with rapidly obsolescing batteries. Hydrogen is emerging as an interesting alternative fuel, even though we are slow in developing a truly \u201cgreen\u201d way of manufacturing it. It can be used in one of two ways. It can power a hydrogen fuel cell (essentially, a kind of battery); the car manufacturer Toyota has poured a lot of money into the development of these. Such a system weighs half of an equivalent lithium-ion battery and a car can be refuelled with hydrogen at a filling station as fast as with petrol.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If the lithium-ion battery is an imperfect device for electric cars, it\u2019s a complete non-starter for trucks because of its weight; for such vehicles hydrogen can be injected directly into a new kind of piston engine. JCB, the company that makes yellow diggers, has made huge strides with hydrogen engines and hopes to put them into production in the next couple of years. If hydrogen wins the race to power trucks \u2013 and as a result every filling station stocks it \u2013 it could be a popular and accessible choice for cars.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Worth reading in full<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rowan Atkinson, with an engineering background and a passion for cars, expresses skepticism about electric cars as the environmental solution they are claimed to be. He highlights the carbon emissions and resource-intensive manufacturing process of lithium-ion batteries and suggests exploring alternatives like hydrogen and synthetic fuels. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":260968,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[691818076,691818081,691820008,691818154,691820007],"class_list":{"0":"post-260963","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"hentry","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"tag-co2","9":"tag-electric-cars","10":"tag-environmental-panacea","11":"tag-net-zero","12":"tag-rowan-atkinson","14":"fallback-thumbnail"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/0Rowan-Atkinsons-Top-6-Cars-2018.jpg?fit=1024%2C576&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-15T5","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":260998,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=260998","url_meta":{"origin":260963,"position":0},"title":"Rowan Atkinson: I love electric vehicles \u2026 But increasingly I feel duped","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"07\/06\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Comedy legend\u00a0Rowan Atkinson, who plays\u00a0Mr Bean,\u00a0Johnny English,\u00a0Blackadder, and many other comedy roles, is not happy with his electric vehicle.","rel":"","context":"In \"Electric Vehicles\"","block_context":{"text":"Electric Vehicles","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=electric-vehicles"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/0mr-bean-mclaren-f1-e1582046625513.webp?fit=1102%2C555&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/0mr-bean-mclaren-f1-e1582046625513.webp?fit=1102%2C555&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/0mr-bean-mclaren-f1-e1582046625513.webp?fit=1102%2C555&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/0mr-bean-mclaren-f1-e1582046625513.webp?fit=1102%2C555&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/0mr-bean-mclaren-f1-e1582046625513.webp?fit=1102%2C555&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":300687,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=300687","url_meta":{"origin":260963,"position":1},"title":"The great electric car lie is a monstrous deception against the British public","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"08\/02\/2024","format":false,"excerpt":"It\u2019s laughable for eco zealots to blame Rowan Atkinson for low take-up. It\u2019s just not rational for most to buy one.","rel":"","context":"In \"anti-car fanatics\"","block_context":{"text":"anti-car fanatics","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=anti-car-fanatics"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/05562W6MALFCDRIVX42DRNINJGY.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/05562W6MALFCDRIVX42DRNINJGY.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/05562W6MALFCDRIVX42DRNINJGY.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/05562W6MALFCDRIVX42DRNINJGY.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/05562W6MALFCDRIVX42DRNINJGY.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":301948,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=301948","url_meta":{"origin":260963,"position":2},"title":"Mr. Bean Was Right \u2013 and So Was Toyota","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"16\/02\/2024","format":false,"excerpt":"When auto (even EV driving) enthusiast Rowan Atkinson \u2013 Mr. Bean to his fans \u2013 last June wrote in\u00a0The Guardian\u00a0that there are \u201csound environmental reasons\u201d why \u201ckeeping your old petrol car may be better than buying an EV,\u201d he was vilified as a eco-traitor.","rel":"","context":"In \"auto insurance\"","block_context":{"text":"auto insurance","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=auto-insurance"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/03883876.webp?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/03883876.webp?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/03883876.webp?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/03883876.webp?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/03883876.webp?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":431762,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=431762","url_meta":{"origin":260963,"position":3},"title":"The Jevons Paradox Explains Why Net Zero is an Exercise in Futility","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"17\/03\/2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Peter Cook and Rowan Atkinson\u2019s \u2018End of the World\u2019 sketch from The Secret Policemen\u2019s Ball is a timeless piece of comedy because, like with all great comedy, we instantly recognise the target of the joke. 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Since I am a SME in the general field (including several basic supercapacitor patents), thought I would provide some factual engineering perspectives to WUWT. 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