AN energy expert has claimed that electric cars can cause more pollution than traditional models.
Kathryn Porter slammed EVs as “unreliable beasts” that are “made of human misery”.
GettyEnergy expert Kathryn Porter slammed EVs as ‘made of human misery’[/caption]
Writing an opinion column for The Telegraph Kathryn, who is a member of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Energy Studies executive council, alleged that the poster cars of net zero are “far from clean”.
She said: “We rely on our cars, and while we may not have the automotive love affair of our American cousins…for many of us they’re a necessity.
“We’re less than pleased when politicians try to dictate to us what type we should have, or worse, threaten to charge us obscene amounts of money for being unable to afford a more modern ‘cleaner’ version.
“Particularly when they aren’t actually that clean after all.”
Kathryn based this on data from the International Energy Agency, which states that electric cars require 173kg (381lbs) more minerals to produce a single vehicle than internal-combustion-based equivalents.
These minerals, such as lithium, nickel and cobalt, are not even used at all in traditional car production, according to the IEA.
All have to be extracted from the earth, often using highly-polluting methods, and then shipped across the globe to go through a refinement and manufacturing process.
Not only that but the mines are often found in deprived nations, while workers are subjected to awful conditions to dig up the materials needed for EV production.
For example, a 2021 investigation by The Guardian found that some workers in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s cobalt mines were paid as little as 30p an hour in unstable jobs, while receiving just two bread rolls for lunch.
Indeed, Kathryn claimed that EV’s would have to rack up as many as 50,000 miles just to be carbon neutral due to the environmental cost of the manufacturing process.
However, that depends on the source of the electricity used to power the car as, if it runs only on renewable electricity, this mileage is reduced.
It comes after a homeowner was left furious as neighbours used a “dangerous” method of charging their EVs by plugging them into domestic sockets, leaving cables trailing across the pavement.
Meanwhile, a ULEZ rebellion is brewing on the outskirts of London as councils refuse to put up new enforcement signs.