Rowan Atkinson's EXCELLENT article on why EV = NO.
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- čas přidán 5. 06. 2023
- Taken from the Telegraph with Geoff commentary.
PART 1 - THE GENUINE ARTICLE
Rowan Atkinson's Brilliant Article Explained
• Rowan Atkinson's EXCEL...
PART 2 - THE DEBUNK... DEBUNKED
Debunking Simon Evans' Article that attempted to Debunk Mr Atkinson
• Debunking the Debunk -...
PART 3 - PREBUNKING THE DEBUNK OF THE DEBUNK...
Looking back at a 2010 Guardian article that itself debunked Simon Evans' article.
• Fun Friday with Geoff ...
#RowanAtkinson #EV #ElectricVehicle - Auta a dopravní prostředky
PART 1 - THE GENUINE ARTICLE
Rowan Atkinson's Brilliant Article Explained
czcams.com/video/Yiga3atlTRs/video.html
PART 2 - THE DEBUNK... DEBUNKED
Debunking Simon Evans' Article that attempted to Debunk Mr Atkinson
czcams.com/video/U74P36S5T64/video.html
PART 3 - PREBUNKING THE DEBUNK OF THE DEBUNK...
Looking back at a 2010 Guardian article that itself debunked Simon Evans' article.
czcams.com/video/c-I2IxhEyXs/video.html
Yep, common sense. I agree.
But some details were forgotten.
-Synthetic fuel is three times less efficient than batteries. (maybe twice if we weight the manufacturing also)
-In cities synthetic still means fumes. (I personally like to se no cars at all in cities. ) Go fucking underground if you want fast. Sure this mean investment in tunnels. But this will mean no more crossings an waiting at red lights, so faster transit. Also with tunnels there, cables and pipes can have a place there, and be replaced without ruining the roads every decade.
-And I forgot something. It is not about electric cars themselves, but about fossils, burning stuff. We know that oil is not infinite, and that is bad burning it. This was promoted since long time ago, I grew up half a century ago with this idea. We knew it, but nobody was doing anything to solve the problem. Eh, almost anything. More filters, less pollution. But the consensus was that burning oil is bad, nobody took the side of oil industry, but we all acted like there is still plenty of time, and is the problem of future generations to solve it. Now, a future generation is here, and started to solve it, but also there is fighting against the transition even meantime the global warming has became an pressing issue. Somebody is feeding bullshit to the public opinion. Like the cobalt and child labor. Come on. why this became so pressing, and nobody raised the issue 50 years ago?
it was there back then too! Other bullshit is that there is still plenty of oil and coal. And that there are undiscovered deposits. Sure, we will find for 50 more years, 500 to push it to absurd, but then what? No more fossil to kickstart the renewables and humanity just revert to stone age? There is even an claim that oil is regenerating. Who TF would push this idea? And it hurts me to see smart and educated people repeating it to me. Outraged I dismiss it, and the man admits, Oh, sure, but I want confort. And I want it now, and I want it cheap. Sure, than say that you do not care, not that oil is regenerating. I know that some oil may be generated as was for millions of years, but how many seconds will cover an year of such production at global level?
Anyway, the transition costs a lot, and should be made with the money that belong to those who got rich in oil and coal, not with students money. But the rich use their money to make stupid propaganda about how bad are the electric cars and solar panels instead of using the money for research and transition. And this is why electric cars are still expensive and not good enough. So, not buying an electric car, not yet, is just passing the cost of transition to somebody else. Buying a new car at every three years sure has its bad part, but tell me, how many students bought a new car in first year and then another one at graduation? I bet that majority of them bought an used one, and could afford it precisely because those could afford new cars, replaced theirs, and flooded the used car marked, making them cheap. Let assume that suddenly now, everybody stop for two years to buy a new car. in few months the stock of used cars will be gone. The price will hike up, and those just becoming independent today will have to walk, or get a loan for an expensive car. In other words they will finance the transition with a loan.
So yeah, common sense. But also common sense is that if you can afford to buy an electric car you should buy it, to finance the transition. Better now, when there is still oil to make the transition smooth. If we wait 50 years, and oil will get scarce than the transition will be a lot more expensive. Sure, will be not us to pay the price. Will be our grandchildren.
It is common sense to let our grandchildren pay the price?
My euro5 diesel car ( which I bought to be eco friendly) is 11 yrs old does 50 MLS per gallon around town 70+ on motorways and nowadays does 3000 MLS a year. That's about as eco friendly as any vehicle can be but will fall foul of the ulez scam.
What a scam sad k,* nt is advocating.
I said almost literally word for word the same thing over 10 years ago on the mighty car mods forum. That includes everything said about hydrogen.
He has exactly the same degree as me. I have work in the electric car industry and I can tell you it’s the real deal. It’s one thing to have a degree. It is entirely another thing to have practice the art and science of the engineering. So sorry, Mr. Bean has not
i’m going to give you a thumbs down not because I dislike you. First of all your video is unprofessional, just sitting in a car and reading from a script.
Secondly, the person you are using as a credible reference is not really credible. Lots of people have all kinds of college degrees. When I finally went to work, I can say that my college education helped me, but, I was astonished by what I learned in the practice of engineering.
@@Flyingdutchy33 : hydrogen car in whatever form is not economical. Electric cars are here to stay using battery chemistry, and I don’t want to be a Luddite like you guys. Sad to say, somebody has to play the Fall guy. Thanks for volunteering!
I have two Toyotas, one is 21 years old, the other is 12 years old, both running like clocks. I've never felt comfortable getting rid of a perfectly good car.
Being paid off feels good to boot.
This is still all on the assumption that co2 is somehow our enemy.
C02 is dangerously low.. we are in danger of desertification, luckily volcanoes are popping off left right and centre
Trees and plants need all our c02 🤷🏻♂️
It is not an assumption. It is a demonstrable fact. CO2 is absorber of infra-red energy which it re-emits, half of it toward the Earth. More CO2, more heating. Venus had a runaway greenhouse effect due to CO2 in the atmosphere about 3-4 billlion years ago. It is not the only greenhouse gas but it is the most produced and hence the need to reduce it.
@@Blackmamba12345 where do you live and do you drive a motor vehicle at all?
Re: "This is still all on the assumption that co2 is somehow our enemy."
Without Co2, no plants, no food, no Humanity!
Rowan Atkinson is a force to be reckoned with. I can also recommend his speech about freedom of expression. The public sees him mainly as a commedian, but he holds some very strong oppinions that he can pour into words that, if need be, hit like a wrecking ball. I think it's called a jester's license.
I agree. I enjoyed reading his article on the freedom of expression and agree that this Cambridge-educated gentleman has a Jester’s License!
Yep ... and the "jester" has common sense, and a brain to drive it !!!
I had no idea Rowan studied engineering and electronics!
@JoseLopez-tk4tq Many people don't - he's a sane analytical mind, and a brilliant comedian to boot !!!
@@paulreid2223~ I have seen the Beans and the entire Black Adder series. Knowing he is a man with a scientific bent has caused a new level of admiration and respect in this viewer.
Excellent video Geoff! In Australia, we have a Mercedes ML320 cdi (V6 3.0 diesel) with
280 000kms on it and it runs beautifully because it has been properly maintained. We also have a Hyundai iLoad 2.5 diesel with 275 000 kms and is incredibly driveable, comfortable and economical on long drives. I was raised to look after things I worked hard to own. This practice has saved me a lot of money over the past few decades.
I believe that the worldwide automotive industry has, for some time been geared towards high turnover. The "agency model" with many Australian dealers provides very slim profits on the sale of new vehicles.
The profits for a dealership today are:
- finance
- upsell to a swankier model in the range,
- fixed price servicing (thereby hoping for customer retention after the warranty runs out) or -
-better still, trading in for the latest model. Why this madness these days? Could it be to keep salespeople, service departments and "suits" in jobs?
The cars we drive are well made, solid, have many safety features, are relatively inexpensive to maintain and very enjoyable to drive. Best part of all... we own them 100%.
I doubt that you do - own them. If the model is similar to the UK You are only the registered keeper - responsible for taxes and fines. Ultimately the system owns the vehicle. DYODD
Old diesels are OK in rural areas. But I wouldn't make a habit of driving them in towns, as they are really bad for air quality. It not too bad in rural areas, as emission dissipate to safe levels, but in the enclosed street on built up areas, and combined with other vehicles they are not good. I drive a diesel.
Whatever the question, 'diesel' is never the answer. They are the most dangerously polluting of all ICEs. If you want to your bit to reduce that problem, ignore EVs (for now), but switch to petrol asap.
Parts are another source of revenue for dealers
All to no avail when there is no fuel.
I've been in the UK for the past 2 weeks and I was stunned by the fact that there's a lot of new (or almost new) cars on the roads. Here in The Netherlands the average car age is around 11 years old and you still see plenty of pre-2000 era cars. Not so in the UK.
That’s one thing I noticed in Japan when I lived there in 2007, though it’s hard to date the cars since the models are completely different, they all looked newish
Alot of our pre 2000 cars dissapeared after the 2009 scrappage scheme to keep the car industry afloat. They gave people £2k for any old car against a new one
@@six7529 I never knew they did that! That might explain it, thanks for the info.
Also don't forget that UK and Japan are one of the few countries with a strong economy at least, that drive on the left side of the road, which means most cars will have the the wrong configuration to be viable to export for most emerging markets (that usually import used cars).
That means that the prices are lower and the supply often outweighs the demand, and they would be even lower if there wasn't for the people changing their cars every few months like they are bedsheets (something I noticed here in the UK compared to my country) which tends to create a fake economy of sorts (and this applies to everything, electronics etc).
Since the economy is better, new cars are still being manufactured, which in turn pushes for schemes and legislation to replenish the existing pool of cars.
@@martij30 As Six said above, the scrappage scheme or "scam" as I prefer to call it was a travesty for older car lovers. However not all cars got the £2k, it HAD to be road legal with an mot.
They also had to be certified with a destruction notice, meaning they were't allowed to be returned to the road. The opposite of what "green" really is.
The amount of really rare old cars traded in was staggering.
I believe a lot are still being stored in the open rotting away on an airfield, have a little search for them, Porsches, BMWs, Mercs, Morris Minors, all sorts.
Back in the 1960's inner wings and sills would rust through in three or four seasons. But, our 09 plate Vauxhall Astra estate has virtually no rust, due to the fantastic bodywork protection these days. My Dad was toolmaker at the Luton factory and used to say that as long as the bodywork/chassis was sound you could replace mechanical parts indefinitely!! Our Astra has 140,000 miles on the clock and goes like a 'cat over watet'! This also begs the question - 'Who is driving the rush to electric vehicles???' I sense a hidden adgenda...
Dangerously high and illegal levels of air pollution which creates respiratory diseases that cost the tax payer billions
There's no conspiracy theory. You can keep your ICE vehicles as long as you want. Most people don't care what they drive and use a car purely to get from A-B with their families and other stuff. On PCP etc which is how nearly all cars are bought now as the fuel costs are significantly less especially when charging at home then the higher monthly cost (due to higher purchase price) isn't an issue. Over the finance term they'll have saved money. So they 'buy' or PCP the EV.
There is always a hiddene agenda, like the 15 minute citys keeping people locked up, and have to ask permission to travel, I'll keep my ice car thanks, these EVs, and charging points are not working.
@@Jamessansomesure,just ingnore blackrock owner admiting he is trying to force culture change with his company
It's more about the new steel alloys they use now. They didnt even exist ten years ago
I have a 1998 Buick Regal with about 191000 km. It was my mom’s and when she passed I kept it. I drive it 4-6 times a month, I keep up with the maintenance. It does not have any rust, paint is still in great shape and the interior still looks brand new. I will drive it as long as I can.
So spot on! I always keep my cars a minimum of 5 years and look after them. Car 1 was my dad's Renault 11 hand me down. Loved it. Car 2 was a second hand TVR 350i. Had both 5 years. Car 3 was an e30 BMW 318 (rubbish so sold it quickly). Then I replaced the TVR with a Caterham 7, which I had about 5 years. Eventually I bought a new Leon Cupra R in 2002... I had that 14 years and did 180k on it. Then I bought a mk2 Leon Cupra. Had it for 6 years. Now I'm 49 and recently bought a low mileage 2018 Leon Cupra 300. 300bhp. Amazing to drive and on a long run on a light throttle, I get 47mpg!!!!!! Wow!
Bring on synthetic fuels and down with the awful EV abomination.
And more driving pleasure than a soulless EV. Win Win
They should let people pick their mind petrol, hybrid, diesel, EV
back in the day, the same whining was heard when horses & carriages are being prohibited from using highways & major streets, to give way for the new king of the road - the petrol cars.
Fast forward to the future, No matter how much youve become inlove with intenal combustion vehicles, the times are changing (again). And theres no stopping it. EVs are here to stay.
@loydireyes5054 I was just thinking the other day that weird EVers keep saying this. It's a rubbish comparison. It's more like the difference between a shire horse and cart and normal horse and cart.
It's nothing like the difference between horse and cart and petrol car! That makes EVs sound like some wonderful new invention, which they most certainly ARE NOT.
In fact, they tried EVs back then and realised they were rubbish, even then.
EVs are dying a slow death that is speeding up day by day. The more people realise they are excrement, the more people don't buy them.
There is not one single good reason to buy an EV.
Mark my words, and remember I said this: 10 years from now, in 2034, EVs would have died a death a long time ago.
Look into it. People are even developing combustion engines that run on water now, and also hydrogen combustion engines, not to mention synthetic fuel.
Anything is better than a car powered by a BATTERY!
The battery power is the issue.
@@alivekicking6247 thank you for the heads up. honestly, im not too sure if we are still here in 10 yrs time :) i mean i do pray for your health & mine.
if battery is the problem, well, theres an infinite ways to kill a cat, or to address the issue. the main idea here is to move away from oil cartel & combusting fossil fuel. maybe at the very least we can have a combustion engine of hydrogen but not directly connected to the drive train, instead it charges a smaller battery pack (just an example).
the100+ yr old technology of combustion engine directly pushing the drive train is inefficient & obsolete. and more than 3/4 of the cars functionality is already electric! therefore electric motors powering the wheels torque is the way to go.
of course you can keep your beloved ice vehicles to your hearts content. after all its a free world.
If the solution to a problem is more tax, then you can usually guarantee that the problem does not exist.
You know what... I'm pinning this comment. Because you just nailed EVERYTHING in 20 words. Thank you. Oh also, everyone please subscribe if you liked this video. There's plenty more of this style in my 'important videos' playlist. You'll probably learn something, and definitely have a laugh.
@@GeoffBuysCars This is not a new tax, drivers already pay this tax through fuel duty. It's just now the tax will need to be collected via a new mechanism; there's no "red diesel" electricity.
Contrary to popular belief, the climate "science" isn't settled. the West is caught between two ideologies, on the one hand GDP and growth line must go up, on the other we must produce and consume less because green.
@@JohnSmith-zu2sy climate science is settled, unless you consider the less than 5% who disagree. Atmospheric CO2 is 33% higher now than in 1970. Any person who has ever owned a greenhouse knows that greenhouses work by making it warmer by trapping heat. CO2 traps heat, anyone who claims that "science" doesn't prove that doesn't understand science. Science doesn't care about ideologies; this is why some people get so upset about science because science doesn't care about whether you agree or how you feel about it.
@@JohnSmith-zu2sy WOAH there John. U can’t talk common sense on YT, you’ll fry a leftwaffer loons little brain in Silly CON Valley 😂👍✌️🇬🇧
I love my car. It's 11 years old and well maintained. It just can't be replaced now, there's nothing like it on the market any more. I'm hanging on to it for as long as it is feasible.
Imagine trying to replace a sedan with a 3.9 V8 twinturbo diesel. Low revving, locomotive torque, makes the eight cylinder noises and barely uses fuel. There is no equivalent on the current car market. The wide adoption of 3-cylinder engines makes you think of motoring in communism. The world in which you are lucky to have a car at all.
You love it enough to pay $10-15/gal in 5-6 years when an EV costs 1/3rd of what a gas car does today?
I have 2 cars a 1991 landcruiser - still going. And a Saab 900s convertible (hasn't been driven for 10 years but kept in garage and should be good after a it of maintenance)
I figure I've had less impact over 30 years than most people who've had 4 or 5 cars in the same time.
@@davefroman4700 In a word “yes”. Liquid fuel will be with us for a long time yet. I’ll pay what it costs, it will still be cheaper than buying an EV (sunk costs of an EV outweigh most if not all extra petrol costs)
@@MrButtonpresser BS. Ive got 250,000 miles on my Tesla. The only thing Ive had to do is fix a couple of broken trim pieces, tires, and shocks. Even the brakes are like new still. And the battery is still at 92% capacity. It cost me $400 to put a charger in my house. And it costs me 60% less in fuel compared to my Dodge Journey I got rid of. My uncle has one he is using as a taxi in Montreal. And even with being on the super charger twice a day it still lasted almost 380k before he had to replace the battery. Which incidentally cost him $8k and took all of an hour. Its costing him half as much as his Prius used to cost to run. And a Model 3 and Y are now less than the average selling cost of a new car in the US. Some states a Model 3 is $27,500 after rebates.
Love the article. Just found your channel. Friends and I have all said the same thing. I am an electronics, control systems and computer Hardware/Software engineer.
So I agree with Rowan on these points. I recently replaced my old car, gearbox fault, cost more to replace than the car cost.
I didn't want an SUV, everyone has one.. so I got a 2011 E-Class estate. 93k on the clock. It's big it's practical for Family camping trips. It's quiet for a big Diesel well maintained and Immaculate inside. It will last another 10-20 years if it's looked after.
Everyone talks about the money saving of EV. But that does not take in the buying as most are long-range EVs are 40-50-60k+ how can it be a cost saving when the monthly amount to buy the car is vastly more than I spend buying and running my older diesel. Even. Factored in Maintenance cost it's cheaper.
Environmental friendly fuels are a big step in keeping these great cars going and helping against environmental impact.
We need more than just EV cars. If we are really said to be for the environment. The whole ecosystem of cars needs to adapt in new ways.
But it's a diesel - the most dangerously polluting of all ICEs. Forget EVs (for now), but please (I speak as a parent) replace it with a petrol car.
@@paulhaynes8045 No. I will not be dictated by you or anyone. So I will keep my car as I like it and I keep very well maintained. So if you took your time and read about the amount of harmful pollutants from the electrical generation plants around the world then you should badger the Energy company's and not motorists which incidentally only contributed 12.6% harmful emissions compared to Global Emissions from Energy and industry of 59.6%. Stop blaming Car drivers and start blaming the real sources of the pollution. All of this information is available if you took the time to research and read about it. So sod off and go hassel them.
@@paulhaynes8045 I agree. I will never buy a diesel. I had one once.
Thank you for reading out the article by Rowen Atkinson. I have very similar thoughts, not least on EVs, Hydrogen, synthetic fuels and (outside congested cities) running cars on for as long as is reasonably sensible so giving time for replacement technologies to become commercially available.
I have been following JCB's hydrogen engine development with interest and see this as probably the most promising technology for the sort of plant they produce; ie large heavy plant often operating in remote areas on long duty cycles, but also many large trucks, coaches and busses.
Not so convinced of hydrogen in domestic cars where I believe synthetic fuel is likely to prove to be the safer and more usable solution, including in many cases over EVs.
EVs will still have a place, especially if solid state batteries become a commercially viable solution, most obviously for city runarounds in heavily built up areas.
So the future that I see has different technologies dominating use in different types and uses of vehicles.
I agree that that future is not here yet, and it still needs much more leadership and support from governments (not just in the UK) to make tgem all viable. There just is not enough drive, enabling and facilitation from the top.
And yes CO2 is decidedly a very serious problem, but so are particulates, NOX, and other vehicle related pollutants.
(Retired marine engineer)
I can happily endorse everything you've said here, apart from your claim that CO2 is a problem.
Please look up Prof William Happer of Princeton university for further details.
Wonderful article. I heartbreakingly had to sell our 1996 Honda Civic because low emission zones rendered it unusable. It had 144k KM on the clock, and ran like a kitten with zero issues in the 20 years it was with us. We always buy sensible 2nd hand cars, drive them frugally, and keep them for over 5 years. While my neighbors are switching cars every 2 years on lease contracts, most BMWs and large SUVs, and amongst whom one just got a Tesla Model Y. Yet to the government, our family would be environmentally less friendly, with a 2011 Hyundai i20 and a 2017 Honda Civic. That makes zero sense.
They can`t make all the new cars in the EU (OK somehow UK is still there) electric by 2035! Ok, we got all-electric cars...FREE. THe electric energy is Free. How the F*** are we gonna charge them with the current power infrastructure ?! Will not handle it at all! All the fuses will blow up and all the transformers will be overloaded in a short time! This is simply utopia.
Isn't there a car indirectly powered by beans? Surprised RA didn't mention it.
@@foppo100 I wish more people would see this! But no such luck. The average imbecile who buys EV is all puffed up and virtue-signalling (remember the plan-demic?!), but when you ask them anything about their machine they'll parrot the marketing mantra or they'll stare at you blankly. The "climate crisis' is the next step in returning Western populations to a medieval lifestyle under a techno-Communism. The "capstone event" as it has been called by those behind the agenda was the plan-demic which turned out to be the greatest transfer of wealth in all of history. In any case, I thank you for your comment and we must continue to hammer away at the thick heads that surround us to make them see this crucial fact which they seem incapable of understanding: The elite hate us. Thanks and God Bless!
The fact that is overlooked with EVs is the extra weight and performance producing more pollution from rubber and more wear and tear on the road surface. I think they should pay more road tax I am surprised they haven't banned motor racing yet one formula one race must produce more pollution than a small town of people driving to work and back in their family cars. Just saying. A bit like Theta Grunberge sailing across the Atlantic for a conference in the USA saying it was a carbon 0 footprint but forgetting to tell us that 7 of the crew that sailed over there then flew back on a commercial jet. Would have been a better footprint for her to fly over in the first place
@ianmcnulty3279 doesn't our government support the War in Ukraine with our money? I wonder what the carbon footprint of that will tot up to? A s£#t ton more than the average family sedan I would wager.
Mr Atkinson always speaks from a point of logic.
Ahh - No.
Unfortunately he hasn't the tiniest clue what a 'rare earth' is and is completely WRONG on that point !
Totally agree - push for EVs has nothing to do with care for environment. It’s all about money and control. Billionaires can’t be bothered making products people want they now create propaganda to guilt people and lobby politicians to mandate their products 🤬
My car is 14 years old, I love it more now than I did when I bought it because it’s been so reliable and is exactly what I need.
@@TuataraAggressor With a degree in electrical engineering and a masters in control systems
@@hayd7371 From the 70s and zero experience in the automotive industry.
Brilliant points! The insanity of the Canadian government in pouring billions of tax dollars in attracting ev manufacturing and ev battery plants that may be causing unforeseen environmental problems boggles the mind, and one fears the tax payer will be left paying the consequences of a failed paradigm in the future, when these politicians have retired on their generous pensions. The alternatives proposed in Rowan Atkinson’s article ought to be given serious consideration. I especially appreciate your idea of carefully maintaining and keeping cars long term, as a way of making better use of the energy and resources required in producing them.
My Audi S8 is 23 years old, and I did 500 miles in it last weekend.
How much do you spend a year on maintenance, considering you drive it daily....I bet a lot....
@@celtics2008champs1 Last year- not a bean.
@@SimonWallwork Not true. I had a car for 17 years, and I did a lot of maintenance every year. Due to roads contition I changed completedly the front suspension, the four shocks, the full set of brake pads, the 4 rotors every two years (a mountain country, never resurfaced them) brake fluid every 2 years). Batteries last no matter the price about 2 years (vibration kills them). Unlesss you live in a flat terrain, drive slowly, and few miles per year.
I moved to a level area, buy a Bolt. No more gasoline, no more brake maintenance for a looong time, oil changes, no visits to the dealer., et. Charge at home with only 110 volts ac. Never used the 22v ac.
A: it may well be true for him, for last year specifically.
B: Starter batteries last a lot longer than that in the Uk generally. I’ve heard folks from the US say they needed to change the battery every couple of years but you’d get closer to 10 years in the Uk typically, so it must be something other than vibration that is the issue for you.
@@EnriqueThiele Well I bought a classic car 10 years ago, battery was already some years old, I still got that car and the battery is still fine after I guess 13-14 years at least.
I run a 2004 Audi A2 now on 258K miles, eco motoring at it's best, no rust to be concerned about with an Aluminium chassis and body, frugal 62mpg long term average and fun to drive. A small footprint and being light and aerodynamic with a three cylinder 1.4 diesel it makes perfect sense.
Hold on to that A2
You could run it for another 50 years and produce less pollution than the manufacture and transport of a single EV battery.
Hi Geoff, I've enjoyed your take on modern motoring & the threats to take away our freedom of travel. I'm from Lincolnshire but have lived in Brasil for many years. Synthetic fuels are the way forwards whilst still using the proven tec of the piston engine. Back in the 70's here in Brasil they decided with the fuel crises that growing fuel was the way forward. Alcohol from sugar production is available at all service stations at nearly half the price of petrol. All the major car manufacturers here give the same warranty on dual fuel cars. You can mix petrol & Alchol together & the only downside with Alcohol is that it needs a small washer bottle type container under the bonnets that you put a little petrol to start the car on cold days or if living in high altitude. This is done automatically. Technically i guess this isn't fossil fuel , because it's a renewable source & I've been told 3 crops per year. Ps this product also keeps the farmers happy 😅 .
But where is all this extra requirement for sugar grown? On land 'reclaimed' from the rain forest, perhaps? No 'solution' is cost/problem free, I'm afraid.
@paulhaynes8045 The amazon area represents a small fraction of land available in Brazil, there's no requirement in Brazil to have extra need of the Amazonian land , The French have an Interest there , & busy logging huge areas, don't believe all you here on the BBC ' s of the world, The climate in Brasil can produce 3 crops of sugar cane per year, & solves a good percentage of fuels for cars. Without using oil.
I am Australian who owns a 1999 Mitsubishi Mirage 1.5-liter manual with $180,000 klms on the clock that I purchased new. Now 24 years old. Japanese made. Most reliable vehicle I have ever owned. Cheap to run. Very low maintenance. Never missed a beat. You definitely get an attachment and soft spot for older cars. Forget electric cars for me. No soul.
I don't doubt the 3 year lease system was designed purely to keep money flowing to car brands. I've had my car for 11 years now and it's still just as great to drive despite the odd dent and a few scratches thanks to supermarket car parks. If I could keep it for the rest of my life I would.
Also older cars, you're less worried about scratches, etc.
@@Gary-bz1rfbc we built shocking products. Shocking. Take the Morris Marina. Basically a straight forward use of a design that was penned in 1947 (by Isigonis). Meanwhile the Germans and Italians were all moved onto twin cam engines, independent live geometry suspension and style.
Well at least it is unlikely to be stolen, just like my 23 year old 406
It's why I always get scared when government starts taking stands, is that they're almost always unproductive and often detrimental knee-jerk reactions by people who don't really know what they're doing, and are thus not that good at identifying the actual problems, let alone the solutions.
Government solutions nearly always involve raising taxes and spending our money.
They know the actual problem extremely well. The problem is ignorant masses believing them when they tell their lies about what the problem is. Hint: it's not emissions.
@@varmastiko2908 no, it is emissions, among other human things. That much has been objectively demonstrated as a fact countless times for over a decade already, and not by people in governments. Carbon signatures leave no room for interpretation or doubt.
@@skaruts I'm afraid you don't quite understand how the control system works. The truth is not publicly spoken about and is also a forbidden subject in science institutions. Essentially everyone is bought off because everyone needs to retain their job to pay their bills. And the media system only lets out what their owners allow.
@@skaruts Emissions are much more than what comes out of the tailpipe, Electric has an emissions cost and so does building cars, a car that carries on working for 25 to 30 years has one set of build emissions wheras an EV will last 10 years if you are lucky and 3 will be required in the same timeframe, as the cost of a battery pack will financialy write off EVs prematurely.We need a huge leap forwards in battery technology to make longer lasting (300% longer) batteries before the build emissionms equalise and ofset the tailpipe emissions.We also need to ban massive overweight cars and move back frm SUV types to smaller engined lighter cars, as fuel burnt is directly proportional to mass moved.The thing about vehicle emissions is, most people actualy need a vehicle, wheras we seem to give a free pass to the aviation and cruise industries that facilitate and encourage frivolous unessessary travel for foreign hollidays.Prioritise tha right targets please!
I totally agree with making your current car last 20/30 years. Fortunately, I own a 2006 Aston Martin that is "like new" and ULEZ compliant, so I'll be keeping that for the forseeable future. 😊
3 car family here. 06 Honda Civic 2.2tdi. 06 S2000GT. 2011 Focus 1.6tdi. I service them myself and they cost each year £50 for the mot and maybe a £100 job. Had them, 15 years, 13 years and 8 years respectively. I chuckle when I see the sheep replace and brag every 3 years. Bless em.
Us taxi drivers in West Sussex have just been hit with the inevitable bombshell. We received an email saying the consultation/survey has begun to force us into EV's. We will even have to attend a course, at our expense on the benefits of having one. This is going to devastate the industry in my area which has lost around 60% of drivers since Covid-19 and residents are up in arms they can never get a taxi. It is also hurting our town centre pubs and restaurants as numbers are down due to transport problems. Net Zero is rapidly becoming Zero Jobs.
Net Zero means Everything Zero
I think what you will see is similar to what is happening in Manchester where private hire is bypassing our local licencing and regulation by having cars registered in Wolverhampton, I think the safety of passengers comes into the question when the local licencing authority has no jurisdiction over the fleet.
Is the loss of drivers due to low availability of man power after Brexit or is it the pay that is to low? If it is the last, would a higher pay increase the number of taxi drivers?
It is so easy, is it not, to introduce new regulations as the people in charge don't have to pay for the changes. Sadly another example of poor government.
Benefits of BEV? I cannot think of one and I too have qualified in electrical and electronic engineering as well as IT.
That advice goes with what I tell people about a lot of things: If you don't have to produce it again, you don't need to use double the resources. Recycling always uses energy and in many cases doesn't give you the same product you used the first time (except for glass, aluminum and a few others). Repairing things is always more environmentally friendly. Way to go, Rowan Atkinson. From one engineer to another. I definitely have a lot more respect for him now. Thanks for the video GBC.
Your argument is correct, in my view. But that's an argument against producing ANY new vehicle - EV or otherwise.
@@peeteebee123
Not any new vehicle, just producing an endless stream of disposable garbage. Make something that will last a lifetime (besides repairs), and the number of things that will need to be produced will be drastically reduced. If it NEEDS to be completely replaced every couple years or so, its garbage from the start. And its often not even recyclable. "Green" = Wasteful.
@@SvendleBerries Absolutely agree. My point was that this is not argument against EVs specifically.
it's funny how people always get nervous when you extrapolate the "double the resources" argument to having children. Doubling your own consumption footprint in an already overburdened planetary system is much more harmful than buying so-called sustainable or repairable products and services. Repairing a product that consists of mined and refined materials is never as environmentally friendly as not buying it in the first place. The most important argument for or against EVs is how renewable the batteries and the energy used to charge them are. More people equals more primary industry equals more destruction of the planet.
You, as an engineer, forgot the most circular material, literally requiring scrap "recycling" in the most popular production processes, that is also essential to car manufacturing and building in general: Steel. Steelmaking and the logistic chains required for it are utterly destructive despite the fact that the product is perfectly recyclable.
Answer = ULEZ the environments enemy.
Rowan Atkinson is an extremely intelligent man and should be listened to, given his academic qualifications and excellent knowledge of Motor Cars. BTW, I'm sure that the motor manufacturers, and money hungry car sales industry, play on the pathetic EGOs of people who want to be seen with 'the latest model' , which also goes for smart phones, laptops, etc. etc. All driven [excuse the pun] by afraid of being seen as less 'successful' financially than their neighbours, "THE JONESES"!
My thoughts exactly every morning I get into my 2003 Jaguar S-type and drive to work. The car does everything I need and still looks great. I will drive my Jaguar for another 10 years here in the States.
Unfortunately people don't want to keep their car's to long because they're to busy keeping up with the Jones.
This.
That's true of people who buy new or nearly new cars. Some of us just want the most cost effective transport we can get.
It is sad. I'm an insurance broker and see this daily. The fact I gave up driving in 2008 has absolutely NO impression on people. They think I am strange, but then again, don't own a cell-phone or cable. Buy the best top model older car you can find, they make them better.
The very fact that Rowan Atkinson's article was published shows that things are changing. Reality is kicking in at last.
THE MEDIA INCLUDING CZcams ARE STILL CENSORING EVERYONE WHO PUTS THEIR HAND UP TO QUESTION THE CLIMATE RELIGION!
As a follow Engineer and classic car owner - Rowan you hit the nail on the head.
Interesting article yeah, even if he didn't really said "EV = NO" tho like in the tittle here, but yeah for the rest his article is disapointing, he might be right about the fact that EVs aren't a perfect solution and it should be obvious to most people now that EVs have also some problematic parts even if they are a great solution to solve most of petrol related problems (air pollution, fossile fuel dependancy, geopolitical dependancy to oil and so on.... as well as reduce by a good chunk the amount of energy wasted for car transportation, given how incredibely efficient EVs are in comparison...).
The last part of the article is plain disspointing, quoting hydrogen as a solution while it's more carbon intensive than petrol cars currently when produced from fossile gas, and just a giant waste of electricity when produced from renewable electricity ("green" hydrogen requires 2.4x more electricity per km driven than a battery EV).... and yeah same about synthetic fuels, it's just a scape goat of germans car manufacturers with something unrealistically way to expensive and who will be a niche for elites whop want to drive ICE Porsches and so on.... so yeah.
The only part where I fully agree with him is when he says we should avoid using our cars as much as possible, and he's very right here, there's so many problems, especially in cities linked to how everyone use their car alone for anything, it goes from trafic congestion, air pollution, deaths on the road, making cities too hot (too many roads keeping heat, not enough green space and trees) and even the obesity and sedentarity epidemics is rooted to car dependancy, it's really the downfall of our societies, so yeah he's right we should make sure people stop using their car for nothing and we build better public transport and safe pedestrian and biking infrastructure 👍
As another engineer, I agree. Keep cars longer. Embedded carbon is a large part of overall carbon emitted. Not that I am overly concerned that CO2 is the scale of the problem that is portrayed.
agreed and all to the good, but there are still a staggering number of people online that cannot hear anything negative about EV's above their own piety.
I've always loved the bells and whistles, so rather than buying a new car I changed the head unit to an Android compatible touch screen, its better than stock and functionality is now on par with a new one!
Great video and information. I completely agree with Roman Atkinson’s assertions and have drawn very similar conclusions myself. The key point to remember and include is the total ‘embedded energy’ from source materials to manufacturing to disposal.
I have a 2015 Ssangyong. My wife said to me would you like a newer vehicle, she was surprised when I said no. Why! Well it's a great tow car, comfortable 40mpg and since I purchased it 3 years ago second hand has only cost me 3 services. 4 new tyres and 2 Mots, what's not to like. Great article as always
Reuse is part of the process. But so is reduce.
I feel for people who live in areas with dangerous and illegal levels of pollution caused by vehicles
@@problemchild1976 you can ride or drive whatever you feel is right, I will stick with what I've got because I like it
@@dawdawes even if that is poisoning people in towns?
@@problemchild1976 love to know where you and others get your data from. You have more chance of being knocked down by a bus. I'm going to be honest here. I couldn't care less , you make your own decisions in life. Don't listen to all you read the scare mongers will put you in your grave with all the worry . Live life to the fullest, and stick a finger up to the doo gooders
@@problemchild1976 Container shipping causes more pollution than all cars, motorcycles and aeroplanes combined. As does animal farming. So if we are intent on demonising the motorist, then all consumers and those eating animal products need to take a larger portion of the blame.
Spot on . Kept my current car for 8 years ( longest I've kept one for ) . It has full service history, runs impeccably ( honda hybrid ) and I've seen nothing I fancy to change to. EV will be an option for me but only when it makes sense.
I drive a 2014 Prius with almost 200k miles. I plan to buy a 2023 Prius sometime around 2028 haha
I average about 1 car every 10 years. Treat them nice and they will repay the favor. Car number 3 is currently 11 years old and still going strong.
The only older hybrids i see around here are Honda's. They seem to just keep going.
There is not enough energy in elec. to run EV cars for the nation. USA needs 9560 petaJoules of energy to run all the passenger cars per year. A nuclear reactor, large one, makes 17 petaJoules. Math not looking good.
@Jon VB In terms of CO2 emissions, the production of a Tesla class battery is estimated to be about the same as driving a gasoline car for 8 years. This is mostly due to sourcing of raw materials.
Also, Tesla's price is partly subsidized by taxpayers. Though this doesn't necessarily make a Tesla a poor choice in all use cases, there are cases where it isn't the best choice.
I have a 2000 model, Daewoo Lanos. Brilliant little car, cheap to run, fun to drive, super easy to park. Bought it new. 23 years later it still performs. It will outlive me. Best of all, I own it.
Always had older cars and looked after them, I think if you’re a ‘car’ person and understand them you don’t get scared of maintaining them, but most people just buy a new one because they don’t understand cars, I knew a girl who traded her car in every time something needed doing and lost thousands rather than just replacing a £200 part 😢
I agree 100% with what he says!! We have 6 cars in our family, (2 Jaguar, 2 BMW, 1 Alfa Romeo, 1 Mercedes). All run on fuel - the youngest is 11 years old, the oldest 34, and all in very good condition. Minimum once a month we find paper notes behind the windshield wipers from people who want to buy the car. The full comprehensive insurance for ALL 6 is € 1.800 p.a., vehicle tax € 1.200 p.a. (in Gemany) - We will never buy a new car!
I'm a massive fan of Rowin Atkinson, and I loved his article! I'm hoping to keep my old car for years and I don't want to replace it really ever.
What car do you have?
Mine is a 2005. Still rolling.
2006 RS50 here
How much do you all give to your mechanics to fix your vehicles yearly ?? Bet it is fun doing that....
Hoping ? Grow a backbone.
Still driving the same car I bought 17 years ago. 266k miles. The only repairs to this vehicle I've ever had to do are replacing the belt and two of the wheel bearings. The rest has just been routine maintenance. I'm still on the original clutch though that is nearing its end of life. 2006 Scion xA. 35-40 mpg for daily driving. Highway speeds (70 mph and above) the efficiency drops to around 30 mpg.
I own a 1976 triumph spitfire restored it twice since i bought it almost 30yrs ago.
I have a Benz W210 that my father bought in 1998. 2.9 diesel, 6l/100km, and still drives strong. It's nothing special, but spare parts are cheap, easy to repair and will always take me where I want.
My car is a 2012 Nissan Qashqai diesel 1.5dci, bought used in 2016. It has a super-eco engine with very low emissions (allegedly - as the owner I don't care if Nissan fiddled the emissions figures or not - that's their problem) that means I only have to pay £30 per year in road tax. As both myself and my wife are over 50 we also get cheap insurance to boot and we have no plans to replace it anytime soon. An EV would be of no use at all to us as we live in rural Wales where the charging infrastructure is almost non-existent and we regularly make journeys of 150 miles or more, so most of the time we couldn't complete a round trip without having to spend ages recharging.
And of course that's the next big issue that nobody seems to want to talk about - charging times. Even rapid chargers tend to take 20-30 minutes, whereas I can fill the tank and be on my way in less than 3 minutes. Are we going to see miles-long queues at the charging stations?
The government simply haven't thought this out properly (no surprise there of course - when do they ever?)
@@countzero1136 the points you make here have been entirely overlooked. I am from the Southwest US, where sometimes even finding a gas station is a challenge. The market needs to drive the adoption of EVs, not government mandates.
Great car!
He is Dr Atkinson, and has a Doctorate in Electrical Engineering
Good point, driven my precies car 9 years, and driven in these years from 150.000km to 350.000km. (diesel)
My current car bought with 170.000km, now 4 years later on 270.000km (petrol)
Hope i can drive it even longer than my previous.
Best is to fall in love of your car, marriage with it, care technically and visual, keep it nice, repair what is needed, even if it is visual only.
Keep the car that you keep looking to it.
And you can drive it for many years.
I keep my cars as long as they don't start costing me lots of money to keep on the road.
My current vehicle is 12 years old.
Still going strong.
Since I bought it new I've spent about £1200 on repairs.
Not including servicing.
That's cheap Motoring in my mind. And no plans to change in the near future.
Great video.
Nobody who drives under 10-20k miles a year should be considering a new EV, or a new car of any sort, to be honest. Some will, because of the neighbours, or the wife's demands.
The real issue is that people who are in the second hand market have a budget. There aren't a lot of second hand EVs, and those there are are not in that budget.
So ICE cars are the only option right now for the majority of car owners looking for a new second-hand car. That includes me, a high earner who doesn't drive a lot. Why throw away money on a driveway decoration! But I can only pick from what's available.
In 2030, there will be a lot of second hand EVs on the market. New EVs will be far more mature too, better batteries, longer range, cheaper. An 8 year old second hand EV should be within the budget of more people. In addition, most cities will probably have banned (by 2nd generation ULEZ rules) most ICE cars, or be in the process of banning them, forcing those people to EVs. Current ULEZ bans are just for more polluting ICE cars. This is for valid air quality reasons within the cities.
This is when the transition to EVs will be very mature. Right now it's still a transition, and for many people that transition isn't mature enough for their needs - valid or not.
@@p80t5turbo
Yes I had a friend with a volvo estate that had done nearly 300.000 miles when I used to see him.
Never had one but good cars.
Right to repair is also of great importance, where manufacturers should provide diagnostic tools, spare parts and manuals for people and shops to maintain cars for a very long time. Current trends, not just for EV's, are going away from this. Secondly though, I am very skeptical about the new e fuels, I think they still have to cost a lot of energy to make and might not be realistically produced in the quantities required.
eFuels is gonna be something for super rich people. Even if we ever manage to produce enough, it is simply to expensive to produce. And there is not much room for scaling up production, you won't get a liter for under 10 Euro same as hydrogen. Though hydrogen use in cars is extremally stupid anyway, especially if you burn it....
Right now, the planed world wide production of eFuels by 2035 isn't even enough to cover 10% of the yearly needed eFuels in germany, and that is if you limit it's use to commercial use in ships, airplanes and the industry. If we add cars, trucks, busses and trains to that it's even far far less.
The amazing Niels Heusinkveld of SimRacing fame and Jimmy Broadbend long support status =D
Nice to see you here and interested in your opinion!
Being in the repair industry, There is a balance of value/cost to repair. And in order to innovate an industry has to have sales of new inventory or capitol.
@@louissabo3191 yes and that is exactly not the way forward for the environment. I can't see it happening but this really would have to change, along with our sometimes silly consumption habit. I will buy a hat and eat it if there are signs of this happening though. We prefer to pretend to be green after all.
@@louissabo3191 That's the thing though, technology and innovation is what got us here in the first place If it wasn't for innovation and technology advancements over the last Century+ of time, we wouldn't have many of the problems we face today. All the advancements do not truly fix anything because often times what they fix, they cause equal and sometimes worse problems elsewhere.
Great video! I totally agree on this.. And, I can add a few things to this issue:
I also am an early adopter, with a beautiful Tesla Model S P90D, which I sold a few months ago to go back to the very reliable older Volvo V70.
Here is why:
At the age of 7.8 years, our Tesla began to create weird noises at the back. Rear drive unit (electric motor) needed to be replaced, which was just within warranty, so no problem. After the necessary surgery, the Tesla performed great, till some two months later: Suddenly a message appeared on the main computer screen: “Car needs service, might not start the next trip!” Other than that, no weird things! It still drove like new! So, back to Tesla Service..
“Yep, Rear Drive unit needs to be replaced!” No warranty! And no: “The warranty on parts does not apply on parts that are renewed inside the warranty of the car!!” So, If something is replaced one day before the end of warranty of the car, and it needs to be replaced again two day’s later, you must pay the bill!
7800 euro’s later, I, for the first time in my life, totally lost the feeling, that the car I bought, actually was ‘MY CAR’, It wasn’t!! These EV’s are constantly in contact with the manufacturer! Which means that It is not you, who determines when you want to go to a service point, no, its them! Call me paranoid, but If I can come up with the thought that they easily can call in a few cars when they need some extra money, than they can come up with that too!
The point is, that with conventional cars, the issue mostly is clearly visible, and can be pointed out by service personel, but with electronics its different!
On top of that, they will never open modules to replace a tiny cheap resistor, NO WAY! They will force you to buy a new module. Its already happening with ‘conventional’ cars: Example: The newer nice LED tail lights, of which everybody thinks that they will run for a life time. Well, they could easily do that, if not the manufacturers would include unnessesary electronics to make them “work better” And there it is again, they are not going to replace a few LED’s that flipped out, no, it will be a minimal 1500 pounds bill for a new tail light module!
That’s why I think, apart from Rowan’s reasons, you should think twice if you are about to buy an EV that will be out of warranty soon! I even did not mention the battery, also full of electronics, if part of it flips out?? Well, lets just say you absolutely won’t be happy when you see the bill!
And a car that is able to give you the message that it probably will not start the next time, even if I would be at the grocery store nearby, absolutely will not be my car ! The Tesla gave me a few years of great driving fun, yes there are very good reasons for electric driving, too bad that they are overshadowd by so many negatives !!
Great job. Mr. Atkinson's words from 06:24 on are spot-on, absolutely true and, sadly, neglected by so many, including those in rule. I see a natural, very laudable attitude in Czechia (resulting from the character of the people) where many drivers are indifferent to fashions and keep aging cars as long are they are still roadworthy, following the idea that unless it's out of order, it does the job for me. Now this is vastly more environment-respecting than buying a new EV to dispose it off after few years.
My already high level of respect for Mr Atkinson has been further raised. If ever there was an unbiased, educated article that made sense on the EV vs ICE debate, that was it.
There was nothing educated about that article whatsoever. It’s the same old tropes that have already been trotted out and debunked.
@@sparkymark75 Thank you.
You're right. What was he thinking? Perhaps he wasn't.
@@sparkymark75greed - it takes a hell of a lot of electricity to create hydrogen.
People are moaning about lithium batteries burning but how about compressed hydrogen tank that's probably got to be cryogenically cooled to stop it seeping through the molecular skin of the tank ;)
And as for ICE.... they remain only 30% efficient no matter what they burn. While an electric motor is 80% efficient.
Why don't factories that run production lines use little petrol engines to drive the lines instead of electric motors :)
He concluded with electric propulsion is the future but that was glossed over
@@problemchild1976
A good percentage of diesels are now over 40% efficient, and Weichai Power claims to have broken the 50% barrier!!
With EV the Traction motor itself may be over 80% efficient but you ignore how the power gets to the car…. A gas power station is about 50% efficient, coupled with power transmission losses (about 8%) and battery charge/discharge losses (li-ion 10-20%) you are at best about 45% efficient with an EV, and this is ignoring other losses in the system like lugging the additional weight of the heavy batteries….
The reason why factories use electric motors is because they are perfect for this application, and they don’t have to lug around their power source. Batteries are heavy and compared to liquid/chemical fuels not particularly energy dense.
I have no issue with EVs but first we need to find a better way to store their fuel!!
It does help when very rich, successful and privileged people begin to understand the catastrophic unfairness in society outside of their own comfort.
what do you mean by "catastrophic unfairness", people still have choices currently to buy whatever they want, consumers drive the market.
Fool !
@@celtics2008champs1 No we don't... THAT is the point. I can't buy whatever I want as I have no money. I invested what I had in a very good second-hand diesel car a year ago, and it is now NOT ALLOWED in the 4 largest Scottish cities where I did most of my work before being forced to retire this month. So NO... I CAN'T buy whatever I like... I am being forced to buy something I can't afford when I have a perfectly good vehicle which I had planned to use for a few more years. I can't even go back to the dealership where I bought the car to have it serviced as it is in the new zone in Glasgow. At least the dealer recognised this and announced plans to move out of Glasgow this week.
The AIR in Glasgow is not polluted... it is NOT killing people... in fact it has improved massively with the removal of the thousands of buses which were replaced by electric ones... THEY CAN AFFORD THAT.... I CAN'T.
PS..it is only about ten or twenty years ago that the government ran advertisements to GET PEOPLE INTO DIESELS, so I did. I have paid through the nose for it since, with high fuel tax, constant servicing to keep it friendly, and even paid £500 on road tax when I could afford a better car just 5 years ago. That went with Covid and the lack of support for self-employed, so I bought second-hand to cut my cloth accordingly.
ALL THOSE CHOICES NO LONGER EXIST.
@J Doe customers drive the market is oversimplifying and not considering monopolies and corporate capture.
How is Rowan privileged? Do you know his life story? He is very good at what he does and has been paid well for it.
Let's fire all the politicians into the sun to investigate hydrogen as a fuel.
My car is 20 years old, and it has done 60,000 miles. It sails through every MOT. I don't intend to replace it anytime soon!
Firstly Geoff, how can you not like Mr Bean? That’s criminal.
Rowan Atkinson is a legend, him saying for people to stick with their older cars and don’t change to an EV makes him even bigger of a legend.
He'd be a real legend if he called out this climate crisis crap for the complete bullshit it is.
He's not saying no, just to not be in such a rush to switch. Keep your old car going.
He isn't saying no to EVs; he is saying you should not have one!
I generally like Rowan Atkinson but I find Mr Bean annoying.
Lol Mr bean is so unfunny it's tragic,however rowan is a legend
The crime is also putting that behind a paywall. Rowan should publish that everywhere.
The article was also in the Guardian which is not behind a paywall.
It's not behind a paywall.. it's a Guardian article, not Telegraph; Geoff got it wrong.
@@petesmitt great!
@@nekite1 and it was debunked within weeks
Great point on just keeping a car longer. My car is low mileage and now 21 years old. I do take care of it, and if you saw it you'd NEVER think it was this old. The longer you keep a car, the lower the environmental cost becomes.
This is an excellent presentation of Rowan Atkinson's brilliant article on Electric and Petrol/Diesel powered cars. 10/10!
Love this article, I've always had a massive problem with the new car culture that the UK has. I've been saying since the government announced no new ICE cars from 2030 it's either gonna be pushed back or we will start to see less new EV car sales and much older petrol and diesel cars on the road.
That “climate crisis” narrative dates back to the 70’s. That narrative is going to keep being kicked down the political road.
Thanks for trashing the planet
Glad to see Rowan going to the effort of pointing out what options are. I've worked in the medium to high voltage industry, it's not always what is best but is long term economically sound and sustaining. We have a lot more coal than the precious elements, just saying. A rude awakening awaits.
But all burning all that coal ain't so great for the quality of air that we breath. It's directly responsible for literally thousands of early deaths and millions of people with health issues every single year. Regardless of what one thinks of the climate impact and how inefficient combustion engines are. 2/3's of your energy input (and thus your money) goes right out via the radiator.. it's crazy.
If only goverments would open up their eyes to this excellent article
Yes it would be wonderful if these noble gents who want to do the right thing could just see the light. I hope there aren't any people who reach for power with selfish intentions or your premise would mean you've handed evil people the keys to the kingdom.
Forget that government would listen to the people .... They never did and they will never do. Forget that governments care about the people. They don't. Governments are controlled by the elite behind the screens ... and move to a nice job when they behave as they are ordered to.
Ours lasted for 26 years before it died BUT we ended up with one that was 12 years old with 27K original miles on it. They're out there. We just have to look! Good show and CHEERS!
I bought a second hand Jaguar XJ nearly four years ago, the car is now eight years old. It has been regularly serviced and still runs beautifully. The 3ltr diesel engine gives me up to 54 mpg on a long run. I have no plans to change it as it still puts a huge smile on my face.
My daily drive is an X400 (X-Type) and it's 21 years old. Looks and goes great ... everything works ... gets treated respectfully in that I keep it clean ... but I do tend to drive it a bit ... ummm .... enthusiastically .... and it's quite a few years since it's lat service, however I believe in preventative maintenance ... so I keep a check on things. Last time I took it to be repaired was 10+ years ago to replace a fuel pump. No big deal. It has a towbar and tows really well. And I look at the price of new cars today, loaded with tech and BS I don't want ... and I think, if the X-Type farts one day, what will I replace it with ... and XF's are getting mighty affordable these days ... find a nice one ... and that's the next 10 years of driving sorted ... if the world doesn't suffer a satanic or alien takeover or summat. But that's a story for another day.
Dear Cupid
Crack on, the XType is an excellent car and extremely well made. When it farts its last an XF is an ideal replacement. I have had two 3ltr diesels and loved them both. The S is a lot of fun and goes like a stabbed rat!
How much did you have to spend on servicing that car? I BET an ev equivilant will be a fraction
Strangely enough I looked into this, a full service on a Tesla was quoted at £238. This included a tyre rotation, but to my mind it is quite a lot considering the minimal moving parts. My XJ for a full service that included fully synthetic oil, coolant, all filters etc £220 at the independent garage I have been using for years.
I considered buying a Tesla but was put off by the build quality, very evident in the shut lines.
Pretty sure I'll be sticking with ice rather than ev for the foreseeable future.
Jaguars converted to electric are more reliable, run better, perform better and will suffer very few maintenance issues. Jaguar's official best ever performance cars were both electric. The professional test driver that trialled them advised tuning back the performance as they were so quick. They certainly put a smile on his face.
The fuel density of batteries is the big problem for plant machinery and large agricultural machines. JCB made a 20 t excavator that required 8000kg of batteries which gave only about 5 to 6 hours use. John Deere tractors came up against the same problem but then built a computerised electric cable system and just plugged it into the convenient wall outlet at the edge of the field….this is not a joke by the way👍😋
Surely we could do the same with aeroplanes, they just need a long extension lead 😂
@@bigjd2k well done!!!!…I can’t see any problems with that at all… and then of course there’s cable operated tanks for environmentally friendly carbon neutral warfare…on a foggy day of war how could you possibly find them with those whisper quiet motors….
Both volume and mass of batteries decrease with each year so those problems will solve themselves with time. If we take Tesla Semi as an example, it offers moving 80 thousands LBS at the distance of 500 miles and the batteries are estimated to be below 1 MWh which would make it at most 10 times bigger than Model S battery so it would be about 5 tonnes. And this will only improve with time, as it has been doing for years now.
@@bigjd2kLMFHO brilliant comment 😂
Electric is great for vehicles that can be plugged in all the time like trains or trams.
I live in France there is an environment sticker you put on your windscreen,I was amazed that my 2006 Megane Karmann has a sticker only one down from an EV!
I'm glad there are still people on the planet who have common sense and know what they speak about.
I live in the same village as Rowan and I see him driving a little vw polo 90% of the time. Very sensible with the narrow rough roads and very economical.
Had my first car in 1989 and used it for 30 years. Overhauled the engine twice. The car ran an average of 24k kilometres per year. Love the car, no problem. Perhaps, I had an exceptionally good mechanic.
What sort of car was it?
@@tomkeegan3782 proton saga 1989-2019 stop using because of covid-19.
@@tomkeegan3782 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proton_Saga
Sorry, i do not know much about car.
yes, as long as you managed not to breath in the exhaust fumes over 30 years of driving. Can you imagine how many 55 gal drums that would be - leaking in a warehouse or being spilled onto pristine beach or floating in a hundreds of miles of open ocean. Wake me up the first time a solar panel or a EV battery fouls a beach for the next 20 years.
Clearly the reason we're all going through this rubbish and cost is because the government and vehicle manufacturers have their best interests at heart NOT ours or the Planets.
Hooray a very notable person on our side, I but we won't see Rowan on the BBC
I've been shouting this from the roof tops for so long the greens are creating huge problems for the environment, thanks for bringing this 👍
NO. just google it. Any question you may have of and EV vs an ICE car.
Unfortunately it’s not about doing anything that “benefits” our environment, but rather status seeking virtue signalling by the wealthy, who have the bonus of forcing the peasants back to walking…..
??? 🤡
Does your shouting involve going on about lithium? How's your mobile phone powered. Lithium mining was driven by mobile phones
Definitely correct about commercial vehicles where payload is literally that: pay load. Even if I could afford a ridiculously expensive EV, which will never happen, the need for the heavy battery to be at the bottom makes it a complete non-starter in the places I drive. In battery technology, sodium is a possible saviour. In liquid fuel, ammonia is touted as the industrial and marine fuel of the future but the trouble is that it doesn't have to be burnt and come out the exhaust pipe to kill you, it will do that straight from the pump. Garbage-in, garbage-out, is indeed the main problem with ICE.
I know a farmer who wanted to turn a field with was on a north to south slope on it. he can't use this field for cattle his livelihood, so applied to the council for planning permission to turn the field into a solar panel field. This application was declined as the land is classed as greenbelt, thus as the solar panel idea would turn it into an industrial area it's not allowable thus declined. Today the field is still unusable for anything and he must still keep the field maintained. He's tried sheep in the field from another farmers land with little success due to having to transport the sheep from one farm to another and the cost of fuel.
私は日本人です。TOYOTAの方向性は世界中には認められていないというような報道が日本国内では横行していますが、海外の著名人がこういった方向性で賛同を示してくれることを快く、とてもありがたいと思っています。Mr.Atkinsonさんとともにチャンネル運営されているGeoff Buys Carsさんに感謝をささげます。
I had a 230E Merc for 21 years and a Toyota Hilux for 17 years and sold both in working order. Currently I have a 16 y/0 Honda and a 17 y/o Toyota which are in good working order and requiring little expenditure other than normal servicing and fuel. The engines in all are easily recycled because they made of metals whereas batteries are more costly to recycle and leave a lot of non-recyclable waste.
I agree with RA there are less polluting alternatives without scrapping ICE vehicles.
Im from England and now live in Durban South Africa, I went back last year and could not believe how many new cars are on the road. In SA we love our classic cars and people keep their cars for years, over here its not a status symbol like in England, its a form of transport to the beach and back . my car is a 2010 coup still looks new and i love it .
My Ford C-Max is 16 yrs old 58,000 on the clock, past every MOT bar one when it failed on low Tread on front tyres. We live in a medium to large town in Berkshire and only use it for shopping trips & local use. One of the best cars we ever owned was our Ford Galaxy we had when the kids were growing up. The Galaxy died of old age as well.😉
Thank you for sharing this fantastic article. I would have never come across it otherwise not having membership of the telegraph. I will certainly be sharing it with friends and can only hope it becomes widespread
It will not age well in the internet world. Another naysayer.
There are articles written in there which they know that the masses won't ever see or hear because of it being behind a pay wall. I don't pay for it, but just listened to what other's have said having read from it.
Free on the guardian's site! Amazing that it's in both Torygraph and Grauniad!
Literally on Sunday I was droning on about the weight of electric cars at a barbecue. 😂
God bless Mr Atkinson ❤
@@edwardwharton7107 It's not a Telegraph article.. Geoff got it wrong.
@@edwardwharton7107 I realised that after writing! I was happy to be able to read the essay in full on the guardian website
Geoff you're right on point about the longevity of cars. I've noticed that they design cars nowadays with style and not robustness in mind. You can still find cars from 80's and 90's in more or less impeccable condition on the road today. Cars from that era seems almost everlasting as long as you keep the rust in check.
The industry is not about selling cars it's about keeping investors. You can't maintain growth with a shrinking population and a shrinking economy by building durable products.
'90's cars or '90's style cars are the best. '80's were good but I think by the '90's the car had reached perfection. Since then all they've done is try to make them cheaper without making them worse. They are making them worse but you don't find that out for 3 years.
I had a '97 Subaru Legacy with almost 330K miles on it...ran great up until Thursday, when somebody totaled it hitting me on the freeway 😭
@@j3ffn4v4rr0 Yeah and the insurance company value it at net zero. It was practically an antique.
Geoff is right on? This is just a guy ripping off a newspaper article. It’s not Geoff, it’s Rowan Atkinson.
Brilliant video Geoff. Rowan Atkinson has put forward some very strong points. Thank you for sharing.
Very well said by Rowan. Our biggest problem when it comes to the environment is us consuming which means manufacturing more, and us being too many.
Problem is a lot of new cars are starting to need work after only a few years, expensive trips to the dealer for fault finding that cannot be done at home as you need expensive custom scan tools for it. They don't want you to keep it on the road, they want it scrapped and you buying a new one.
Lol…man you guys and always having these conspiracy theories. A grand group of “they”, always out to get us. You don’t have to change ever. But EVs are here to stay and getting better every single year.
My EV a BMW i3 is now 7 years old and not one problem in that time. Before this in 2012 bought a Leaf electric but sold it after two years and purchased a plug in Hybrid Ampera which was sold to a neighbour after two years, She is still running it every day with no problems.
My i3 a 2016 is still providing the same range as when initially purchased with no
problems.
For those who are weary of garages I suggest buying an inexpensive scan tool, plug it into the diagnostic socket and if not capable of troubleshooting yourself at least you will be able to communicate with the dealer.
the replies to you highlight the 'always an exception...' but you are right. i have 30 yr old cars- motorbikes twice that. ie my 94 mitsi mirage has very little to go wrong. in nz it is punished by needing a wof- [warrant of fitness-] twice yearly, where everything possible is done to get her off the road; while a new car has a gratis 5 years of wof free- assumed safe.
repair costs after a new car fender-bender are massaged thru the roof- with insurance writing off eminently repairable & safe cars in a blink. we have been rear ended twice- left with perfectly driveable mechanically sound cars- taken off us by insurance with enough compensation to buy a pedal tricycle- because a crumple zone in the rear subframe has a small buckle.
is there an agenda?
of course there bloody is.
@@justinstewart3248 in 2017 the Volkswagen group had to pay a criminal fine of $2.8 billion for cheating the emissions tests. Is it too far a stretch to imagine they may be a little self serving in making their cars? Seems like a healthy suspicion to me. Plastic inlet manifolds surely are about profit over durability. EV's are here to stay, what's not to like about a car with way less parts to go wrong. But probably better to wait till the technology has matured a bit more and they can be made with less impact on the environment. BTW ''they' are out to get me, they told me so on the mothership 😵💫
@@markhampson2827 That's what I hate about insurance pay-outs, never enough to replace the car.
The amount of C02 needed for optimum plant growth is 2000 parts per million. A recent scientific study found that the current amount of C02 in the atmosphere is just over 400 parts per million. Once those levels drop to 200 parts per million, the natural world will die off. Now, why would our government want to reduce levels of C02 when they're this low already? And why do the BBC never talk about this?
@@foppo100 You're absolutely right on that. Unfortunately, if you voice those opinions you get labelled a racist antivaxer climate denier conspiracy theorist. Which personally I wear as a badge of honour.
Do you perhaps have a link to this study so I can read it.
CO2 doesn’t heat up the atmosphere by trapping heat itself, it changes the chemistry of other molecules within the atmosphere so they trap heat. The problem is that CO2 doesn’t get used up in this process, it can keep doing that forever. The are some natural processes that extract CO2 from the atmosphere, but if the amount that’s added exceeds the amount that’s extracted by a tiny fraction, then that tiny build up of CO2 in the atmosphere will be able to cause a lot of heating. Scientists have determined that as little as 450 ppm could increase global temps by 2 degrees C. In 2018 the CO2 levels in our atmosphere passed 400 ppm for the first time in 800,000 years.
The other day I had to drive to Bolton, and stopped off at a motorway services, and half the charging stations were wrapped in bin liners, so clearly not working.
So glad I have a Diesel.
A lot of common sense from Rowan Atkinson, including an example of his fashion sense @0:23 with the colour of his shirt matching his car.
Have been a huge fan of Rowan from his Not The Nine o' Clock News days. He speak so much intelligent sense. I've always said the same - keeping older, good order cars on the roads is far less polluting and not the CO2 monsters that green agenda want us to believe. Great video Geoff
The "green agenda", whatever and whoever you think that is, does NOT want you to buy a massive new CO2 monster car every couple of years, whether it's EV or ICE. This is Rowan Atkinson's point, not an anti-environmentalist one.
Thei air is so much cleaner in the cities in Norway after alot of people have changed to EV now.
Intelligence doesn't make you an expert in all fields. His views are extremely uneducated. Batteries are recyclable, one company is even making conversion kits for ICE fiat 500s. We need to rethink transport for sure, so EVs are not a panacea, but we absolutely must stop burning stuff. NOW.
@@stighaaland5357 The air may be cleaner in Norway but the polution caused during the production of the EV's/batteries is left behind for the people of China to condend with. EV's may be good options for our local enviroments but they are not good for the planet as a whole, we are simply exporting our pollution to another country!
@@11235but the answer is "no", because even the people who do the recycling projects admit it's much "easier" to make a new one,it's in the same situation with solar panel
I absolutely agree with every single point in Rowan's article. Governments are blinkered and only interested in headlines. They are ill-advised and ignorant!
And you Geoff sum it up perfectly - it is all about money and control!
My Toyota Hilux is a 1999 model and done nearly four hundred thousand kilometres on the clock still going strong
500kg of Lithium Batteries inside every EV is like driving about with 10,000 Fireworks beneath you ready to Explode on Impact!
Unbelievable Stupidity putting these Dangerous Explosive Contraptions on our roads. How on Earth was this allowed to happen? 🧐
Growing up in New Zealand , in the 50's and 60's not many could afford a new car. We kept them going for 20 - 30 years no problem. My first car in 1966 , was a little 1938 Ford 8. That was 8 HP not 8 cylinders. Previously owned by a mechanic , it was in great shape.
I still have my granfathers and my father's 73 and 74 Ford F series. Till 4 years ago they were still on road. My current ones are a 2001 Chevy 1500 with 350000 miles that is just our farm use now and a 2001 suvaru legacy.
I remember my Dad buying a new Standard 10 in the late 1950's. The "10" also referred to the hp. Great little car. Regular journeys Nairobi to Mombasa return.
In the 50's and 60's the problem was less to do with the cost of a new car but the governments import controls restricting the number made here.And in those days cars had to be imported in parts and assembled here. Unless you had a source of overseas funds for the deposit it was very difficult to get on the waiting list.Dealers used to give priority to people like farmers who might also buy a tractor from them -it was all very unfair.I bought a new Ford Anglia with overseas funds in 1964 and sold it for the same price in 1967 when I went overseas. The system kept the price artificially high .
But the first car I bought in NZ was 1961 a !955 model Austin ute but it was a rust bucket 2 years later .
We could make our cars last 30 years if we wanted to. We just decided people need to change instead of fixing their car.
Yep, in NZ my first car was my grand fathers car...which when he died became my fathers car...which when I turned 15 became my car.
......50 years later my current car is a 30 year old Nissan Patrol. Will most probably still be going come the Zombie apocalypse
Geoff my car is a 1995 Diesel Mercedes 220. It is cleaner than all the modern Diesels I've had on the MOT check. It paid it's carbon footprint off years ago. Phil from Droitwich
How can an ICE vehicle "pay off" a carbon footprint, if it emits more carbon every time you drive it?
@@benhockley Because around half of the carbon footprint is during production, The rest is from driving it, so the more you drive it the lower the percentage is from actually making the car in the first place. for example, if my car takes 50 tonnes of carbon footprint to make, and makes 5 tonnes a year driving it, in 10 years your at 50/50 emission from driving it, then you buy another car, which is another 50 tonnes used. Keep the car for 20 years Ive produced 100 tonnes of emmisions, so its now 33/66 emissions, and the making of the car has less of an effect, and also Ive not added another 50 tonnes of making another car in that timeframe.
You are putting a lot of particulate into the atmosphere than your family is brathing. Millions of lives lost to cancer victioms due to particulate emissions and NOx.. At this time you should be ashamed in respect to your own admittance.
@@sneekeruk
Regardless, you cannot “pay back” the carbon footprint. At no point will an ice ever go into reverse emissions and neither will an ev ever “pay back” the production footprint.
@@benhockley Well if you replace that old car with a brand new electric you will then own something that has already produced an enormous carbon footprint, whilst driving the old car will just release small amounts every year compared. New electric cars are not the best quality, loads of problems with all sorts of things, the result is that no one can probably afford to keep them going once the warranty is out. Resulting in a very short lifecycle, most batteries will have died within 10 years which is quit bad as producing a new battery will release a huge carbon footprint once again, I could go on.
In the US, lease “surrenders” feed the certified used car business. My last car, a prius, was one. I kept it 16 years. My current one, a Volvo ICE car, is also from the lease return pool. I bought it as a two year old. I have never heard of young cars being “scrapped” unless they are totaled.
Biggest issue is politicians telling us what we need to buy
Even if it happens there still going to bill you by the mile
And that's the 3rd video that was filmed today...
I'd sooner get billed by the mile than have to pay £300 VED for a project car I do maybe 100 miles a year in. Seems the fairest solution to bill based on usage - seems like a no brainer to add a little bit to fuel. But then again, that would cost them some revenue from people like me...
Cashcow.
@@BlackLines You think that until the cost per mile increases to more than it costs to take a taxi. Government need a new fleet of armoured NON ULEZ compliant RangeRovers and Limo's because the old ones are getting dirty.. Lets double the cost per mile to pay for those and let's forget to drop the price once the vehicles are paid for? Of course those that fix the costs will be exempt from paying them.
@@BlackLines you're correct that a VED replacement that bills on usage would be far fairer than the current system where an old ICE car incurs a high cost, even if it's barely used, and a new highly-used 'efficient' car is barely charged, despite emitting tyre particulates still, wearing the road (batteries are heavier, but lorries still do the majority of damage). There can still be an emissions multiplier on the per-mile usage.
Hi Geoff , now if you could get an interview with Rowen that would be a vid I would pay to watch . He is also bang on with free speech to .
If ever Mr. Bean was going to upgrade his mini to something electrical... it would have to be a Prius!
I’m in Australia - thank you Roman Atkinson - my previous two cars were traded at 23yo (250000km) and 14yo (270000km). Both petrol cars. Current two are about halfway there (one petrol, one diesel) I feel quite happy that I doing more for the environment than those upgrading every few years to keep pace with “technology” - electric or otherwise.
In my opinion, a lot of people get tired of their cars after a while, because to most people, they're just something to get from A to B, and they happened to like their car more than other ones at time of purchase (maybe a better price, or better design). After they have it for a while, they just simply get tired of it, and when the repairs make an appearance, they decide that rather than fixing their suspension or sinking over a grand into repairing the engines, they'd rather use that repair money for a down payment and get something newer and shinier and looks more modern.
My solution: find something in your budget that you can get passionate about and will want to keep for ages. Obviously that only really works if you're an auto enthusiast to begin with.
I agree. Decide in your teens if you like a VW or a Subaru or Toyota, buy a car and stick with it for life.
i got rid of cars and love riding a motorcycle
You are singing my song friend! I have owned 3 cars in my life, all were Mustangs. My current steed is 10 years old and taken care of. I'll drive it until the wheels fall off, then put the wheels back on and drive it further!
And here I am, as a degreed electrical engineer, designing and programming machine automation systems, just now learning that Mr Bean is not only funnier than I am, but he could also take my job. Time to start upping my game.
The famous turning point conversation when Tesla finally confesses to JP Morgan what he was really doing with the Wardencliff research funds, Morgan responds how the hell are we going to meter that!
My view might be foreign because I live in India but how right Rowan is for saying "a little tender and care". I've been using a Suzuki Swift for the past five years. Bought in 2017, it has now clocked 100,000 kms (62,000 miles). It has been a daily driver used mainly around the city of New Delhi. Regularly serviced, the car has had a full suspension overhaul(front & back) along with a new power steering rack. It also got its EGR valve cleaned (its a diesel, yes I know...). So far, it has never given up on me or my friends. The engine has gone a bit rough as it is with any diesel car but it still runs happy and wants to cruise on the expressway all day. I'm not replacing it for another five years but yes, the next car won't be a diesel.
This confirms what I have always thought, we change our cars far too soon, if maintained properly and looked after most cars will last 20 years. My car is 17 years old from new, we have looked after it and replaced bit's that wear out as they do. It passes it's MOT every year without having any work done on it and has 125,000 miles on the clock. It's pure vanity to change your car for the sake of it, to have the latest model, and the environmental cost is absolutely enormous when cars are scrapped for ridiculous reasons. Car manufactures want you to spend out on new cars, so they make them difficult to repair when something simple goes wrong, thus righting the car off for insurance reasons!
My dad had a GMC truck he flipped it to zero 3 million miles on it before he traded it in for a newer GMC.
2004 Corolla, 2002 BMW, both still running. I do my own work. I'd like to change the Corolla, but it's long paid for and there's no need. Spend my money on more fun stuff for the family.
My Suzuki Grand Vitara is 18yo and still going strong. Love it.
Some PR company will release an article that totally debunks that one and it will get a hundred times more exposure that what we’re up shainst
While waiting on seeing this was forced to watch an EV advert.
i grew up in the USA in the 1960's-70's. The air is cleaner today with more cars on the road than it was then.