I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, some people are idiots. They were born idiots, and they’ll die idiots, spreading their ignorance meanwhile. Electric cars, AKA EVs are loved by some, and hated by many.

One thing, and one thing only, should be at the centre of EV policy: Climate change.

Electric vehicles are not limited merely to car. SUVs, trams, buses, and trains can, and are, run on renewable energy.

That then raises further objections, usually ill-informed and equally ignorant. Numpties bang on about the CO2 created when manufacturing said vehicles. They rave, uninformed, about batteries, and lithium, and recycling, and about how much of the world is still powered by coal and gas.

While the latter is true, prior to steam, the world ran on horsepower fuelled by grass, with the resulting filth swept up by men with brooms and shovels. The world transitioned to one where the rich ensured that profit mattered above all else. And so the quick decline began.

50 years ago, climate science warned of impending disaster but they were ignored or ridiculed. As the US is gripped by its longest drought in history, the UK is set for record-breaking 40c days ahead. Australia, previously burnt to a cinder, has seen 3 La Niña events gracefully sweep up the east coast, swamping everything under many metres of filthy flood water. To further drive home the point, a 4th is set to follow.

Yet, despite mountains of evidence to the contrary, deniers still deny.

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ABOVE: EVs and Charge Points

EV charging, a hot topic, led to claims that the CO­2 would simply be moved elsewhere. First, even if that were true, less CO2 is produced by charging an EV from coal-fired power than by burning petrol in an ICE. Next, public charging can be fully offset by said facility purchasing green power from renewable sources such as wind, solar, and wave.

Fossil fuels are subsidised to the tune of 10bn AUD a year, changing the climate even further, yet renewable power is now the cheapest form of energy in history.

So, the question is: will we spend more on fighting against climate change action, or by simply ditching oil, gas, and coal now, not in 30 years’ time.

Some places are already uninsurable, and we have seen what happens when natural disasters occur in quick succession. Climate science said it would happen, and it has.

Jobs are at stake, all jobs, not only those relating to mining and fossil fuels.

A recent story said that feed-in tariffs for rooftop solar were being reduced, and in some cases, PVC owners would be charged to  direct their excess power back into the grid. Why? It is claimed the grid cannot cope. No one explained exactly how charging the customer will help the grid cope better than it otherwise would. That is a nonsense, as power retailers will sell that power to someone else, for a profit.

This brings us back to EVs, and to ridiculous mixed messages promoted by fat lobbyists and their rich owner/operators.

The answer will be a mix of electrified private and public transport supported by extensive renewable power production stored locally, and cheap ubiquitous charging points. Every EV is a mobile storage device, so instead of sitting around much of the time doing nothing, could be part of the storage solution. Furthermore, old EV batteries get a 2nd life as home storage, or in mass batteries such as the Tesla facility in South Australia. This mega battery was ridiculed by conservative governments, who have since had to bite their tongues as the battery proved its worth many times over.

The change won’t happen overnight, but kicking the can down the road has brought us to the brink. Australia no longer makes cars, and Japan and the EU/UK already have plans to eliminate ICE production. We have no choice but to start planning now, for something that is coming whether we like it or not.

EV charging must be available, and reliable. Strata buildings must be retro-fitted, and taxes should be removed from EVs, placed instead on ICE powered vehicles. I say this as someone who reviews petrol and diesel vehicles, but who is an EV convert despite the current inconvenience.

There is the money to transition now, but not the will. Covid highlighted the fragile nature of our society, and the extreme weather highlighted the fragile nature of our planet.

I could have included documentation, facts, figures, and pretty graphs, but why rehash what is already freely available? It won’t inform the un-informable, or educate the chronically stupid. We need governments with balls, back by the finance industry, to cut a swathe through conservative media bull$hit.

EVs and renewable energy: if not now, when?

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