Electric Cars: More About What They Don’t Tell You

~ beetleypete

With our government intending to end the sale of petrol and diesel cars by law in 2030, electric car sales (and hybrid petrol-electric cars) are on the increase. Even my local Tesco in the nearby town now has charging bays installed, and I have seen at least four electic cars plugged in not far from our house in Beetley.

I have written previously about the less-publicised facts around electric and hybrid vehicles. These involve child labour exploitation for cobalt mining in Africa, and the short life of the batteries that means there will be millions of them needing to be recycled (or dumped) in the next six to eight years.

Here is another article addressing that issue.
https://getpocket.com/explore/item/millions-of-electric-car-batteries-will-retire-in-the-next-decade-what-happens-to-them?utm_source=pocket-newtab-global-en-GB

Think carefully before buying an electric vehicle.

It is not as ‘Green’ as you might think it is.

92 thoughts on “Electric Cars: More About What They Don’t Tell You”

  2. Thank you for pointing out the hidden weak points of electric vehicles. If we can’t identify the faults, then we can’t fix them. Renewable energy has grown by leaps and bounds in the last decade, despite the US government only investing about 5 cents into renewable energy for every dollar they spent on the Defense budget. If the US can put an astronaut on the moon within a decade of JFK’s iconic speech, then the world should be able to tackle this climate change problem if we all work together. Keep on finding the bugs in the system because we’ve got a lot of work to do!

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  3. Perhaps you are right about the cobalt. I haven’t investigated. But are we as careful in all areas? Do we all choose fair trade coffee? Do we all check the metals in every gadget we operate and search out their origins to ensure we are being the best world citizens. As far as I know, one piece of chocolate can have thousands of food miles simply to come into existence. And who picked the cacao beans? As for the batteries… I am not sure you are right that they are not recyclable. But I don’t have a source to back me up. And there is so much stuff on the internet, why would you believe my source over yours? Anyway, a lot of bad stuff has been said about electric cars, solar panels, wind farms.. they’re all new compared to the use of fossil fuels. But unless you compare the evils of both sides or provide an alternative to electric cars, I don’t really know what to do with the information you are broadcasting.

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    1. You don’t have to do anything with the information I am ‘broadcasting’. It is simply one opinion about electric cars. (Mine) There are many alternative opinions, so you are free to come to your own conclusions. Thanks for taking time to read and comment.
      (I don’t eat chocolate by the way, but I am a fan of wind farms, especially offshore ones)
      Best wishes, Pete.

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  6. Pingback: Weekend Wrap-up / Inktober Day 9 (Pressure): Feels like Fall | Lines by Leon

      1. Well, Pete, there are shortages of gasoline, too, aren’t they? I agree with you on the bad sides of producing and recycling batteries, but again: gasoline comes at a high environmental price, too. And as to battery life: nowadays you get an 8-year warranty with those,
        Best,
        Pit

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        1. Thanks, Pit. Of course petrol is harmful, in it’s removal from the ground, refining, distribution, and use in combustion engines. But until there is sufficient infrastructure is in place in countries like Britain, electric cars are not yet a viable alternative for everyday use by ordinary people.
          Best wishes, Pete.

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          1. I wholeheartedly agree with your point on infrastructure, Pete. And it’s not only just the number of charging stations, it’s also the time it takes to charge batteries. When I sometimes see the lines at the gas stations, when you might have 2 or 3 cars in front of you and have to wait 5 minutes or more before it’s your turn, I keep thinking who’s really want to wait up to an hour then before they can even start charging their vehicle.
            Btw, we ordered an electric vehicle and hope to get it soon. Our reason was that we don’t always want to use the (big) pick-up truck just for errands around town, or to just drive to San Antonio or Austin. That is what we could easily do with an EV while charging it at home. The bigger truck then is for long journeys or for hauling heavy or bulky loads, which we frequently have to for our garden.
            Have a wonderful weekend,
            Pit

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    2. We ordered one and hopefully it will be delivered by the end of this month. Our decision was because we will be able to leave our big truck in the garage if it’s just for getting around in town to do errands. It would even be sufficient to go to the nearest big cities [San Antonio or Austin]. We have the pick-up truck for longer journeys and to haul heavy/bulky goods, e.g. for the garden.
      I think there are valid reasons for an electric vehicle.

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        1. For the environment it would of course be better to have no car at all, and I keep thinking that two cars for just two people certainly smacks of overkill, but here, with no public transport at all, we siply need at least one car.
          Best,
          Pit

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      2. I hope you like yours as much as we do ours. I haven’t gone to a gas station in two months and with the price of gas in my area approaching $5 a gallon, not having to fill up my tank makes me smile!

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            1. Even if we ourselves would of course not like to pay more for gasoline, I can’t help but thinking that gasoline should cost much more here. I hope that would stop all those idiots who leave the big engines of their cars and truck running while they’re parked. Some do their shopping even then. Unbelievable.

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            1. Yes, we’re lucky here. I remember very well the Californian prices we paid on our recent [June] trip to California. On our way up we stayed on night in Needles/CA and to fill up our tank on the next morning we just drove across the Colorado River into Arizona and got our gas there, not quite at half the price, but nearly. We kept wondering why that gas station didn’t have long lines of Californians.

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  8. The solution for many of these problems is to make the polluter pay, be it plastic bottle manufacturers, fertiliser companies or the petroleum industry. But of course its not going to happen.
    I thought the article was actually more positive than negative as it explored the solutions and discussed how some countries are adopting them. Have more faith in the millennial generations who are more aware of the need for circular systems of manufacturing and will insist upon change. Green politics is on the rise and are having and more influence on policy.
    Mind you I still think it will be a while before we go electric, not just the money, but our petrol car running on LPG offers half price travel and far fewer emissions.

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    1. Cheers, Eduardo. Yes, the article ended on a positive note, but I think that ‘Green Future’ is a long way off yet, and will be at the expense of most ‘ordinary people’ who will not have access to any personal vehicle.
      Best wishes, Pete.

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    2. “The solution for many of these problems is to make the polluter pay, be it plastic bottle manufacturers, fertiliser companies or the petroleum industry.”
      The polluter is not the industry, but mankind.

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  9. Oh dear, the future looks bleak as regards travel we need far better public travel around the world …on and off…we don’t have a car now and live on the outskirts of a city…We either take a taxi or a bus
    /tuk-tuk both of which are easy on and off wherever you like…they stop so you can pick something up on your way back home and it’s cheap… the rest I do online but we don’t miss not having a car and if we want to go further we hire one… saves on tax, insurance and parking costs…:) x

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    1. That’s a great solution if the public transport is cheap and varied, as it is in your case, Carol. In rural areas like Beetley, we would end up being reliant on expensive taxis or having everything delivered by suppliers.
      Best wishes, Pete. x

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  10. I fully agree with you, Pete! What can we do against child labor, and will we real save the environment with only changing the fuel? I think i will never buy such a car. If i need to be driven, i will use public transportation. Sooner or later you will no longer be able to drive the electric car yourself, and i would not accept beeing transported like in a chicken streak. Lol xx Michael

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    1. And what would you do, Michael, if – like me – you lived in a sprawling town with absolutely no public transport? We live 3 miles away from the supermarket, e.g. For us, an electric car definitely is an alternative to our truck, so that we can use less gasoline for short in-town trips.
      Best,
      Pit

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    2. As Pit says, if you live in an area with very little public transport, (as I do in Beetley) having a car of some kind will still be a necessity until they improve that situation.
      Best wishes, Pete.

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      1. And this, living in an area with little or no public transport, is what people in most of the USA have to deal with. We normally tend to forget the the US is not a densely populated country, quite the contrary.

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    1. So much of ‘recycling’ is a blatant con. Much of our plastic waste in the UK is sent to third-world countries. It is melted down using chaep labour, and sent back to the UK as blocks of plastic to be melted down again, to be used to make containers. The carbon footprint of all that world travel is massive. I wrote about it a long time ago. (2013).

      Recycling? My arse


      Best wishes, Pete.

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      1. Sadly you are right. Same thing happens here…you sort out your trash carefully only to see it all thrown in together. It’s scandalous. Naively, I thought we had stopped exporting rubbish, but I guess the Chinese see profit in accepting our trash and yes, the whole slave labour thing. The Chinese Government is one of my pet peeves. I won’t blame the Chinese as a whole because they are brainwashed. But maybe we all are. Time for more happy memories…they are so precious.

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  15. Since electric cars are not as green as advertised, engineers at the Soylent Corporation are hard at work creating a car that runs on recycled human matter. The crematorium lobby is, of course, up in arms about this.

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  16. Thank you for posting this Pete.
    It all plays into a larger agenda of the Globalists. It isn’t so much about ecology as it is about control. Read the U.N. Agenda 21 manifesto and associated U N. Published documents. The ‘free’ common man is smack in the middle of the most coordinated attack of all time:
    The fight for individual freedom.

    Sadly, the vast majority don’t even know it.

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  17. Pete, I own an electric car, and also a hybrid. I understand the issues you shared, but one other that is important to point out is this: what happens when the electric grid goes down? It’s also vulnerable to any number of problems that could literally strand anyone who needs electricity in order to drive…and what about everyone without a charged phone?

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  18. The wind swept prairies of West Texas have been ruined by thousands of wind turbines. Miles upon miles of these gargantuan pin-wheels turning just enough power to light a 20 watt bulb. Electric cars are still a boutique item, until their range can equal a gas powered vehicle. A gas-electric car would make better sense.

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  21. Pete, when it comes to the issue of motor vehicles transforming into electric vehicles, it is generally assumed that while the vehicle power source will change, usage won’t.

    This is not the case. The articles published on the World Economic Forum website clearly view private cars as ‘underused’ resources that need to be phased out.
    Most (especially since the introduction of Working from Home) sit idly, and are rarely used for more than an hour or two per day. If we take the time to add up how many minutes per day/week/year our car wheels are turning, for many it’s not much.
    The WEF intend to electrify mass use transport vehicles like busses, and change culture to include ride sharing in autonomous vehicles like taxis etc.
    Shorter journeys will be made by electric scooter or electric bicycles.
    The anticipated pressure on the grid will be less than you might think, and the digitalisation of the supply network will offer greater flexibility of power supply.
    The initial phase of rolling out local charging points is just a way of gaining support from motorists while the infrastructure is developed. In later phases these points will be changed over to support the AV taxis of the future.
    With the coming bans on international travel for the masses, the growth of door to door delivery services etc, where are you going to go anyway? You’ll be allowed 30 miles maximum and you’ll do that in an AV taxi or on a scooter.

    You’ll own nothing and be happy.

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    1. Just trying to imagine myself getting back 4.5 miles from Tesco on a scooter in the snow, with five big shopping bags full of heavy groceries. They will probably try to sell me a trailer for the back of it. 🙂 🙂
      You are undoubtedly right though. Only the rich and influential will have personal transport. They need it more than the plebs, after all.
      Cheers, Pete.

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      1. We won’t be going shopping because ‘they’ won’t ‘need’ us to ‘go’ shopping.

        ‘They’ will create the environment where it’ll be ordered on an app and delivered by AV from distribution hubs located at the side of bypasses to our doors.
        Many people do that already, all they need now is to encourage more and more people to do the same.

        Having never owned a car my life choices have been influenced by proximity and reliability of public transport. This will become the norm as people are pushed out of villages and into ‘smart cities’ where everything is available and controlled digitally. This isn’t my opinion, it’s on their website.

        Beetley will be a weed strewn ghost town in fifteen years, (if it’s not already 😂)

        We can’t see the future from the viewpoint of an individual citizen Pete, ‘they’ aren’t.

        Our free range days are over. We just can’t see it yet.

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  22. I agree. The push for electric vehicles has not been thought through. Other technologies eg. hydrogen, need to be explored urgently. I saw a video on Scotty Kilmer’s car channel on YouTube and he gave lots of facts about the issues with making and recycling batteries.

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    1. Hydrogen needs more investment and research. It might then be possible to run cars using hydrogen extracted from water. But then there would probably be water shortages, and taxes on water! 🙂
      Best wishes, Pete.

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  23. There are going to have to be thousands of charging points installed. If everyone has a charging point outside their home, how is the National Grid going to cope? Also, the journey time will increase for distance travel, as batteries currently are only good for running about locally and time will be wasted sitting by a charging point halfway through a long journey.

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  24. Unfortunately, nearly all science has pros & cons, and whilst I’m not dismissing environmentalism, the whole climate change issue, and electric cars in particular, have become something of a ‘bandwagon’ for people and some governments to jump on, without necessarily ensuring that all the facts are known [also climate science must be extremely complex, beyond the capacity of individuals to comprehend]; also, there will always be suspect grants & backhanders available: that’s the way of the world in a monetary system! Cheers, Jon.

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    1. I think the government is vastly underestimating the huge infrastructure needing to be in place to make this practical. If they ban the sale of petrol/diesel vehicles in 2030, they probably have fifteen more years before the existing petrol/diesel vehicles are no longer roadworthy, and every single driver will have to replace them with an electric vehicle. Just imagine the demand on the National Grid from 2045 on. I won’t be around to experience that, unless I live to be 93.
      And they are not mentioning taxation. The government gets a huge income from fuel duty levied on petrol and diesel, and annual road tax on cars. They will have to tax the use of charging points and raise a special levy on electricity to make up for that shortfall.
      Best wishes, Pete.

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    2. If one examines the funding of certain organisations who are sceptical of (or who deny human induced climate change), you will find that money from certain fossil fuel companies and/or individuals finds its way into their coffers. I wonder why fossil fuel concerns would fund organisations who are sceptical of climate change …

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    1. Thanks for adding the link for the alternative official view, Kevin. I’m still wondering how the millions of people who live in high-rise and multi-occupancy accommodation are going to charge their cars though. I think I might buy a horse, and convert the garage into a stable. 🙂
      Best wishes, Pete.

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      1. Thanks Pete. Where there is a will there is a way.

        The amount of health problems caused by vehicle emissions (particularly to young children and those with underlying health conditions) is, in and of itself a reason for moving to electric vehicles. And climate change puts the the final nail in the coffin of petrol and diesel fuelled vehicles.

        I am pleased to see that you will be keeping the suppliers of hay in business!

        Kevin

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        1. I agree that there must be change, and the current situation is unsustainable. But they haven’t thought it through. Before moving to Norfolk, I lived in a 4-storey 1930s block of flats in Camden, containing 59 one-bedroom flats. There was no parking in the estate, and only on-street parking with permits in nearby streets. In my block alone, there were over 70 cars owned by tenants, and there were nine similar blocks on just that one estate close to Regents Park. I cannot imagine how those 600+ car owners are supposed to be able to charge electric cars.
          It seems to me that the aim is to get inner-city working class people to no longer be able to own and use any cars, taking society back to the time before WW2.
          Best wishes, Pete.

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        1. We have hundreds like those, many are located in the sea off the east coast, 40 miles from where I live. This part of England is close to reaching sustainability from wind-power, but that’s not the case all over the UK.
          Best wishes, Pete.

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