Rowan Atkinson: "I love electric vehicles ... But increasingly I feel duped"
I did some back of the envelope calculations last year when I bought a car. I found that the total CO2 emissions of a traditional versus electric vehicle would be around the same— of course the fuel efficiency and annual mileage tips the comparison in favor of the EV. But not in a zero emissions kind of way.
It’s simply best not to drive a car, or at least drive much less, and purchase well maintained, used vehicles to avoid manufacturing emissions.
What really soured me was when I learned about the plans to dredge the ocean floor for rare earth deposits to make batteries. A total spoiling of the environment for “clean” fuel IMO
Yeah, and look at the life expectancy of EVs. Remember Musk promising a million miles? Haven't heard that for a while. Instead 1000 charge cycles, and optimistic circumstance (such as low vibration roads, long uninterrupted drives,++) and put battery life to ~150,000 miles.
So, 500-1000kg batteries for about 12,000kg of petrol (if you drive a modern EU/JP mid-sized car). The equations are no longer very favorable.
@lupyuen
On the plus side, hydrogen engines sound promising.
The advice I got from old-school environmentalists was the best: buy a small car, keep it for thirty years, and avoid long commutes if possible.
The average person drives 12kmi/yr. Cutting that and keeping cars for decades would do more than EVs ever have.