2023-07-03 08:00:01
Rowan Atkinson, the actor known for his iconic role as Mr. Bean, has voiced his opposition to electrification in a recent opinion piece published in the British press. In the article, Atkinson talks about his experience with hybrid and electric vehicles, highlighting benefits such as speed, quietness and economy of use. However, he also expresses feeling cheated and raises concerns about the broader environmental impact of electric cars.
“I bought my first electric hybrid 18 years ago and my first pure electric car nine years ago and (despite our poor electric charging infrastructure) have thoroughly enjoyed my time with both. Electric vehicles can be a bit soulless, but they are wonderful machines: fast, quiet and, until recently, very cheap to drive. But more and more, I feel a little cheated, “explains the actor.
Atkinson argues that the government’s proposal to ban the sale of new gasoline and diesel cars from 2030 is based on a narrow perspective focused solely on tailpipe emissions. Although electric cars do not emit gases, he highlights the significant greenhouse gas emissions associated with their production. Citing figures from Volvo, Atkinson points out that the manufacturing process for an electric car produces almost 70% more greenhouse gas emissions compared to a gasoline car. This is due, according to him, to the weight and high resource consumption of lithium-ion batteries, which are currently used in most electric vehicles and require rare metals and a large amount of energy to manufacture.
“As you know, the government has proposed to ban the sale of new gasoline and diesel cars from 2030. The problem with the initiative is that it seems to be based on conclusions drawn from only part of a car’s lifespan: what’s next out of the exhaust pipe. Electric cars, of course, have zero exhaust emissions, which is a welcome development, particularly with regard to air quality in city centers. But if you zoom out a bit and look at a bigger picture that includes the making of the car, the situation is much different. Ahead of the Cop26 climate conference in Glasgow in 2021, Volvo released figures claiming that greenhouse gas emissions during the production of an electric car are almost 70% higher than when making a petrol one. How is that? The problem lies with the lithium-ion batteries currently installed in nearly all electric vehicles: They’re absurdly heavy, require lots of rare-earth metals and enormous amounts of energy to make, and only last more than 10 years. It seems like a perverse choice of hardware with which to lead the car’s fight against the climate crisis,” he continues.
The actor acknowledges ongoing efforts to develop better alternatives, such as solid-state batteries that are expected to be lighter and charge faster. However, he points out that these advances are still years away from being widely available, which could leave a glut of obsolete electric cars with heavy batteries. Atkinson also mentions hydrogen as an emerging alternative fuel, explaining its potential use in hydrogen fuel cell vehicles or as direct injection fuel for trucks.
“Unsurprisingly, a lot of effort is being put into finding something better. New so-called solid-state batteries are being developed that should charge faster and could weigh about a third the weight of today’s batteries, but they’re years away from being on the market, by which time, of course, we will. They have made millions of overweight electric cars with batteries quickly outdated. Hydrogen is emerging as an interesting alternative fuel, even though it is taking time to develop a truly ‘green’ way of making 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 invested a lot of money in the development of these. Such a system weighs half that of an equivalent lithium-ion battery, and a car can be refueled with hydrogen at a service station as quickly as with gasoline,” he says in the article.
“If the lithium-ion battery is an imperfect device for electric cars, it is completely useless for trucks due to its weight; for such vehicles, hydrogen can be directly injected into a new type of piston engine. JCB, the company that makes yellow excavators, has made great strides with hydrogen engines and hopes to put them into production within the next two years. If hydrogen wins the race to power trucks, and as a result all gas stations stock it, it could be a popular and affordable option for cars.”
“As an environmentalist once told me, if you really need a car, buy an old one and use it as little as possible. The most sensible thing to do would be to speed up the development of synthetic fuel, which is already being used in motorsports; is a product based on two simple notions: one, the environmental problem with a gasoline engine is the gasoline, not the engine, and two, there is nothing in a barrel of oil that cannot be replicated by other means. Formula One will use synthetic fuel from 2026. There are many interpretations of the idea but the German car company Porsche is developing a fuel in Chile that uses the wind to drive a process whose main ingredients are water and carbon dioxide. With further development, it should be usable in all gasoline-powered cars, making it virtually CO2-neutral for use,” Mr. Bean continues.
In conclusion, Atkinson advocates for a holistic approach that takes into account the entire life cycle and environmental impact of different automotive technologies, urging accelerated development of synthetic fuels while acknowledging the potential benefits of hydrogen as an alternative fuel source for trucks. .
#Bean #actor #Rowan #Atkinson #expresses #concerns #electrification #advocates #development #synthetic #fuels