Rita Panahi: ‘Saving the planet’ with EVs is delusional

If electric vehicles were half as good as activists claim, then they’d be embraced by consumers without market manipulation.

If electric vehicles were half as good as the surfeit of rent-seeking advocates and activists claim then they’d be embraced by consumers without market manipulation.

There wouldn’t be any need for all the subsidies, emotional blackmail and taxes and/or bans on petrol vehicles to encourage drivers to opt for EV options.

We are told EVs are the future but we know very little about the lifespan and cost of batteries, the components of the batteries and how they’re derived (think small African children in unsafe mines) and then there’s the inconvenient fact that EVs are largely powered by fossil fuels. Even a small increase in the number of EV vehicles can put pressure on the power grid, let alone the enormous surge predicted by emissions-obsessed politicians.

California serves as warning of what can happen when far Left policies are implemented without much thought of the unintended consequences.

We are told EVs are the future but we know very little about the lifespan and cost of batteries, the components of the batteries and how they’re derived.

One couldn’t help but be amused that less than a week after Governor Gavin Newsom crowed that California would become the first state to ban new petrol car sales by 2035, his government was forced to issue a warning to EV owners not to charge their cars due to pressure on the electricity grid during a heatwave.

In the UK surging electricity prices mean that running an electric vehicle, particularly over longer distances, is set to be more expensive than petrol equivalents.

And, that’s before you factor in the higher purchase price of EV options.

The cost of EVs is one thing but another factor that must be considered is the longevity.

The EV batteries, the ones filled with metals such as lithium and cobalt (the overwhelming majority of the latter comes from the Democratic Republic of the Congo where tiny children breathe fumes that lead fatal lung ailments), typically have an eight to 10 year guarantee.

What if you need to replace the battery?

The cost is so exorbitant that many car makers will not reveal this crucial data, something News Corp’s national motoring editor found out when he asked 10 manufacturers the cost of replacement batteries. Only two were forthcoming, with Lexus revealing it’ll cost $43,476 plus GST to replace the battery of the UX electric SUV. Nissan charges $9,990 plus labour to replace the battery in the Leaf EV.

More than 70 per cent of Australia’s electricity mix comes from fossil fuels, according to government department figures.

Until we have an electricity grid backed by clean nuclear power any notion of “saving the planet” via EVs is delusional.