Electric vehicle advocates take aim at Rowan Atkinson over his stance, but it makes sense, writes Tim Blair

Grief leads to blame, and as electric vehcile sales fall, advocates of the technology have pointed the finger at... Mr Bean, who in no sensible way could be held responsible, writes Tim Blair.

Grief triggers blame. A suffering individual will invariably seek out someone to condemn for causing their despair. It’s an almost involuntary coping and deflection tactic.

Sometimes this process is rational, as when victims of crime demand that perpetrators be brought to justice.

Or it may be superficially rational but not laudable, as when an incoherent and disoriented elderly shopper violently assaults a handsome stranger for buying the last tube of sour cream and onion Pringles.

I’ll see you in court, Mr Biden.

And then there’s a third category: those who alleviate grief by blaming someone who in no sensible way could be held responsible for the suffering in question.

Such as we saw last week when an alleged environmental think tank called Green Alliance told the UK House of Lords that electric vehicle sales in Britain had drastically slowed because of … Mr Bean.

Rowan Atkinson who plays Mr Bean has been blamed for the decline in EV sales.

Or, more accurately, Mr Bean’s brilliant creator Rowan Atkinson.

The veteran comedian was accused by a Green Alliance letter to the Lords’ environment and climate change committee of sabotaging EVs by deploying the unthinkably wicked tactic of writing about them.

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

By “debunked”, the Green Alliance activists meant Atkinson’s piece was subject to the usual petty eco-faith trivia surgery, resulting in multiple pathetic “corrections”.

Here’s the first of them: “This article was amended on 5 June 2023 to describe lithium-ion batteries as lasting ‘upwards of 10 years’, rather than ‘about 10 years’.” Yep.

Calling out a nobody cares distinction between “upwards” and “about” is what they call “debunked”.

But the same climate fanatics never demand corrections to reports claiming we’ll be swamped by climate refugees and never see snow again. They’re selectively pedantic.

“Unfortunately, fact checks never reach the same breadth of audience as the original false claim,” the Green Alliance weepers continued, “emphasising the need to ensure high editorial standards around the net zero transition.”

The poor babies. Their Holy Netification Church of St Zero’s Blessed Transitude was insulted. Imagine the pain.

There’s no suffering like cashed-up urban Western green suffering, which shouldn’t surprise considering their climate cult is entirely built on apocalyptic disaster exaggerations.

As well, the larger the cause, the wider the range for incrimination.

If some clothes go missing from the backyard line, suspicion might be limited to immediate neighbours.

Or big Gordon, the weekend cross-dresser from up the street, if we’re talking about anything frilly and feminine.

But when your central claimed concern is our earth’s imminent destruction, you’re provided with a whole planet of irresistible opportunity for furious accusations, denunciations and absolutely Biblical levels of blame.

The Green Alliance has turned its attention to Mr Bean actor Rowan Atkinson.

Climate priest Michael Mann, for example, once raved online that “Tim Blair is one of the worst people in the world”.

So evil was I, he added, that I’d “better hope there isn’t a hell”. Prior to his outburst I had no idea Mann was one of my ex-girlfriends.

In this House of Lords case, the evil eye fell upon Mr Bean – who isn’t even a climate change sceptic.

Atkinson even refers to “the climate crisis”, mildly noting the heavy, complicated, low-lifespan lithium-ion batteries currently fitted to most EVs are “a perverse choice of hardware” in the emissions reduction battle.

As you’d expect from someone with an electronic engineering degree and a master’s in control systems, Atkinson offers a superior emissions slashing strategy.

Electric Tesla vehicles are displayed in a Manhattan showroom in New York City. Picture: Getty Images

“If the first owners of new cars just kept them for five years, on average, instead of the current three, then car production and the CO2 emissions associated with it would be vastly reduced,” Atkinson proposed. “We’d be enjoying the same mobility, just driving slightly older cars.”

Given the slowing rate of EV sales in many markets, perhaps Mr Bean’s wise words have been heeded.

Incredibly, a Guardian opinion piece may have had a measurable impact on the real world.

Or, more likely, most of those who wanted EVs and had the means and time to recharge them have already bought their status indicator Teslas or down-market E-quivalents.

Beyond that fancy crowd there aren’t many of us who crave the lifestyle enhancements of range anxiety and recharge rage.

An increasing number of us, however, are keeping an eye on used car sales sites. With prices now fallen from Covid-era peaks, bargains await the canny shopper.

Buy now and beat any future anti-petrol legislation. After all, better to be a Bean than be banned.