An Intereting Articl On Ev's From Rowan Atkinson

[youngmafbog]

Also in The Mail but the Guardian link is here.

Much is what I and some others have said but its a good read looking at all sides for once.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/jun/03/electric-vehicles-early-adopter-petrol-car-ev-environment-rowan-atkinson

There is a counter argument from the Guardian here for those interested:

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jun/08/fact-check-why-rowan-atkinson-is-wrong-about-electric-vehicles

Not in quite such an objective mode.

[retrocop]

I read that this morning. A man well qualified to put across the real facts. I pity all these people who actually believe the manufacture of EVs, and particularly the batteries, come with green credentials. They are being duped
Strangely enough Mr Atkinson admitted he liked driving EVs and has owned them from years back. I also believe he likes rolling McLarens on occasion. :-)

[Rosetta]

Interesting article by Rowan Atkinson. I would query that Carbon Brief have an axe to grind, and have swallowed the green propaganda whole. But I am just a member of Joe Public, so no expert

[Gromit]

Atkinson proposes hydrogen as a better alternative.
Unfortunately to make enough hydrogen through electrolysis, you need lots of electricity (usually made from fossil fuels), so no more beneficial at all.

[Gromit]

There is Green Hydrogen (GH2O) but it is very expensive and currently it is hard to produce in large enough quantities.

[ClareTG0ld]

My understanding is that electric cars are still better on average, even if any given electric car may end up being worse for GHG emissions over its lifetime than a given diesel car. What matters, at least at national policy level, is the aggregate: you could expect to reduce GHG emissions overall by roughly half (albeit significantly varying depending on country) if all drivers switched to electric vehicles. See eg https://ourworldindata.org/travel-carbon-footprint

In the long run it's better still to use public transport where possible, and therefore for countries to invest in it. But electric cars are still a step in the right direction, in particular as private transport can't (and arguably shouldn't) be eradicated entirely.

It's probably also worth pointing out that Atkinson's piece has had to undergo several revisions to correct errors he made. Overall, I feel it has a tone of "letting the perfect be the enemy of the good": he's correct in the sense that EVs are hardly the "solution", but they are still part of it.

[Old_Geezer]

Hydrogen does have benefit. Energy in that form doesn't take "forever" to fill your vehicle "tank" and then there are the weight considerations, just to start with. One can always generate electricity from green sources and turn it into a much more convenient, and greener than battery production/use, form.

[Gromit]

Battery transmission of energy is far far more efficient than a mechanical engine using hydrogen.

[Old_Geezer]

But at a cost. And an inconvenience. Fuel deliveries already exist as a system. No tying up newly installed power points for hours, or hoping one is free.

[barry1010]

Far greener to keep your existing car well maintained and keep it going as long as possible rather than buying any new car. It takes a lot of materials and energy to make a car

[Paul22118]

Let me make a simple, unbiased opinion. I have considered going electric but when I filled up my diesel Merc this morning and sat behind the wheel, my onboard computer told me I now had a range of 680 miles to run. I rest my case.