[Brad Lockyer]

Legendary British actor Rowan Atkinson, star of Mr Bean and Blackadder, has been put in the unusual position of having the demise of the British electric car industry laid at his feet in official documentation.

The UK House of Lords environment and climate change committee listed an article Atkinson had written for in its report into dwindling electric vehicles.

“One of the most damaging articles was a comment piece written by Rowan Atkinson in The Guardian which has been roundly debunked,” their report reads.

In his article, Atkinson said he was actually an early adopter of electric vehicles, but found the environmental cost of mining the materials used to make electric vehicles outweighs the reduction in carbon emissions.

The House of Lords report also found the high purchase price of electric vehicles and insufficient charging infrastructure were other reasons for the decline.

[Rod63]

Stupid headline. Mr Bean is a character and had no influence on the electric car industry.
As the story says, it was comments by Rowan Atkinson.

[Marten]

He is obviously showing his age as it is must be clear to the younger generation that the future will be governed by increasing demand for EV’s as is already happening in many countries, particularly in Europe.

[Couldabeen]

Marten, Or Mr Atkinson could be showing his superior knowledge of the matter. Mr Atkinson is a University qualified Electrical Engineer and understands both the strength and weaknesses of the vehicles.
When the younger generation stop and consider that even the base grade EVs are up to double the price of many suitable ICEs and there is no real benefit, beyond virtue signalling, in owning and driving an EV, they may hesitate in their interest in making that purchase.
It is only the Legislation and threats against the manufacturers forcing them to manufacture EVs against the legacy ICE vehicles that has brought them into the market.
The typical EV gives no real advantage over a much less expensive ICE vehicle and value for money will come into play across the whole market.

[Sorrelli]

You need to read the document he published. He is highly qualified to talk about electric vehicles.

[Frank]

Actually A lot of what Rowan Atkinson said is true. The environmental costs of producing electric cars is phenomenal. In Australia the high temperatures make the batteries dangerously to start a fire. Do you expect governments to speak the truth?

[Jennie]

You are correct. And the question to be asked is, “Where does the huge amount of electricity required come from??”

[Greyghost17]

Electric cars , electric this electric that ! Is putting all your eggs in one basket dangerous ? With All the Fires happening it seems like a Bad and Dangerous idea !

[Couldabeen]

Mr Bean has had no influence on the sales of EVs in the UK market, nor for that matter has Mr Rowan Atkinson. The article in the Guardian reflected his direct knowledge and experience with EV ownership. Around the world there are many EV owners who are regretting their early entry into the EV world and finding that getting out of it and back to ICE ownership is quite a bit more expensive than expected. It includes such reports as EVs batteries spontaneously exploding with no provocation and causing significant collateral damage and this is a very strong disincentive.
With reports from overseas indicating that the recharge experience isn’t as convenient and seamless nor as inexpensive as promoted, it is very possible that the forced transition from ICE to EV by Governments may not meet the schedule Legislated and the new car industry may find car yards filled with unwanted EVs and the second hand yards doing very well.
From a number of discussion forums, there is also a recognition that in many countries, the Grid will not have the energy capacity for large scale recharging of EVs without compromising the consistency of domestic supplies.
Especially for older consumers, the additional cost of any reasonable quality EV over a similarly sized ICE vehicle would never be justified in less than 20 years of ownership. Even a hybrid costing around 15% more than the pure ICE version would take over a decade of typical use to recover the supposed savings in fuel costs.

[Author]

Posts