Actor and comedian Rowan Atkinson in a recent Guardian comment piece claimed he felt ‘duped’ by the actual green capabilities of electric vehicles (EVs). He cited figures expressing that EVs unleashed 70% more Co2 into the atmosphere than combustion engines and touted that purchasing second-hand combustion engine cars is better for the environment than electric on an emission basis.
The transition to energy-efficient technologies isn’t a debate or an opinion piece, but it’s one that keeps turning its head every few months. Atkinson’s quotation of figures all of which have been largely debunked is not only dangerous but allows those who might share more widespread anti-climate views renewed vigor.
Remaining In Touch With The Severity
Atkinson’s piece feels out of touch with the reality surrounding it. Recent news confirming greenhouse gas emissions have now reached an all-time high. An outcome that will push the threat of entering a new era of “unprecedented” levels of global heating closer. Ever-increasing levels of ‘climate anxiety’. A study published in Lancet Planetary Health found 56% of those worldwide felt humanity is doomed. Furthermore, a climate conference, held in a state known for its massive level of carbon emissions via oil and gas, is set to announce that the world is on track for climate catastrophe by breaking through the threshold of 1.5C warming from pre-industrial levels.
Transport produced 27% of total UK’s total emissions in 2019. Of this, the majority (91%) came from road transport vehicles. EVs already cut planet-warming emissions by two-thirds on a life cycle basis relative to combustion engine cars in the UK. Atkinson’s alternative view of hydrogen as an “interesting fuel” to replace petrol and diesel isn’t quite as efficient.
Research shows that hydrogen vehicles would only cut emissions by 39%, relative to the 60% from EVs. Figures from NGO Transport and Environment show EVs can be driven two to five times further on the same energy as would be needed if using hydrogen or synthetic fuels.
A Continued Rise That Needs To Continue
In its latest report, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) said, with “high confidence”, that EVs have lower greenhouse gas emissions than conventional cars. The IPCC said that electric vehicles not only “offer the greatest low-carbon potential for land-based transport”, but their use would save money.
4.5% of road vehicles in Britain are electric, according to government data, and EVs saved over 2.8 million tonnes of C02e in 2019. Atkinson’s article swims against the tide of popular opinion. Over half of UK adult drivers said they would switch to an electric car in the next 10 years and 41% said they would in the next five.
In fact, during the period from 2000 to 2009, the number of electric vehicles rose from 400 to 62,800, a 15,700% increase. As the decade continued, this figure jumped further from 83,900 to 758,200 representing a massive 904% upward trajectory.
Every year since 2010, the annual increases in electric models have gone up.
As ownership has gone up, so has the number of charging points for EVs which has long been a sticking point for potential owners. Between the end of 2016 and 2022 the charge point network grew from 6,500 to more than 37,261 devices and in 2022 over 8,600 charge points were added to the UK network, a growth of 30%.
Private home charging is also something offered by EVs that cannot be matched with combustion engines. Fischer offers cutting-edge EV charging points controlled via a mobile app. This ensures complete control of vehicle charging, from charging status to charging preferences. It’s these advancements that help save energy, allowing the offset of more carbon emissions than from simply driving.
A Path To Net Zero
If every vehicle currently registered in our country – 32 million of them– were electric, the UK would see savings of 1.73 billion tonnes of CO2 over the course of those vehicles’ lifetimes. These savings are attributed to EVs in their current form – there is no ‘duping’ about the environmental impact.
Atkinson continues to say at the tail end of his piece that people should “hold fire” on EVs. This is referencing the worry or belief that EVs “will be of real, global environmental benefit one day, but that day has yet to dawn”. Without a widespread shift to EVs, there is no plausible route to meeting the UK’s legally binding target of net zero greenhouse emissions by 2050 – and the same is true globally.
The day has dawned. Continuing to wait would be like installing a smoke alarm in the middle of a fire.
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