The misconception of electric cars

Bjorn Lomborg
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PREMIUM

Copenhagen / Fri, March 13, 2020 / 02:25 pm

Eco-friendly: An electric car is being charged at an electric charging station in Gambir, Central Jakarta. (JP/R. Berto Wedhatama )

If you listen to the media, a green automotive future has arrived and a tsunami of electric cars are outselling gasoline and diesel around the world, transforming the planet and solving climate change. We need a reality check. Battery-powered electric vehicles are fairly popular in urban China and California, as well as a few countries that subsidize their drivers heavily. But globally, fewer than 0.3 percent of all cars are pure electric, and across Europe, BMW says customers don’t want them. Unsurprisingly given the price-tag, electric cars are often playthings for rich people. One United States study shows the richest quarter of people receive almost all the public money spent on electric car subsidies. Moreover, electric cars in the US are driven fewer miles on average each year than gasoline-powered vehicles: 11.200 kilomters compared to 16,400 km for gasoline and die...