Switching To Electric Cars Isn't Going To Be Enough To Save The Planet, But Don't Let That Stop You

When the anticipated expansion of the Asian middle classes hits, petrol car ownership will soar and emissions will skyrocket, outmatching any savings made in the West. But that doesn't mean we shouldn't go electric anyway
Switching To Electric Cars Isn't Going To Be Enough To Save The Planet, But Don't Let That Stop You

You’re probably wondering whether we’ve gone half-mad, but then again, maybe you’re not.

Electric cars are going to become a reality for a lot more of us over the next 10 years or so, and after that the avalanche will start. In 20 years it might be that most of us have electric daily drivers. But for all our environmental conscience in the West, certain American leaders excepted, it’s not going to stop global warming.

When the Asian markets finally tip over the edge of the precipice into the rapid expansion of the middle classes, car purchases are going to go through the roof. As happened in Europe and the US during the post-War period, economies grew and people got richer. They bought cars, bigger houses and started going on holidays abroad.

Switching To Electric Cars Isn't Going To Be Enough To Save The Planet, But Don't Let That Stop You

The same is going to happen across Asia as surely as the sun is to rise in the east tomorrow. We’re already warming the planet worryingly quickly, according to actual science (as opposed to alternative science), so an explosion of new, basic, cheap, inefficient cars in countries with a combined total of several billion people is not going to do anyone any favours. This problem isn’t localised: if the global atmosphere suffers, we all suffer.

Oil giant BP this week predicted that global oil demand would still be growing in 2035. “It’s not Teslas and the US. It’s the fact that 2 billion people, much of that in Asia, are moving to middle incomes, can buy their first motor car and that drives up oil demand. It’s that stuff that really matters,” said Spencer Dale, BP group’s chief economist.

Switching To Electric Cars Isn't Going To Be Enough To Save The Planet, But Don't Let That Stop You

It gets worse. In fact, the company expects that demand for oil won’t peak until 10 years later, sometime in the mid-2040s. Greenpeace was furious, naturally. Why should BP be realistic when instead they should be blindly insisting that we’ll all be in Nissan Leafs by March?

Anyway, the fact is that, barring something world-changing, Asia is about to start burning so much fuel that it’ll make today’s American consumption look like a quick sip at the global oil well. But that’s exactly why the rest of us need to start taking action to offset that as much as we can. Investing in cleaner technologies, renewable energy and zero-emission cars is something we shouldn’t be fighting, or disputing the merits thereof. It’s something we should be accelerating.

Switching To Electric Cars Isn't Going To Be Enough To Save The Planet, But Don't Let That Stop You

Don’t get me wrong. I don’t want internal combustion banned (ever), and I don’t want today’s cars to be legislated off the road with excess taxation or fuel costs. I want us to be free to continue to enjoy the fruits of suck-squeeze-bang-blow for the rest of time, if we want to. But it’s surely beyond reasonable argument that we need to stop burning vast quantities of stuff that’s not exactly very good for the planet. Using our glorious V8s a bit less wouldn’t hurt, would it? Using the plug-in ecobox in the week and then taking our pride and joy out at the weekend would be the best of both worlds, right?

Some people will argue that Asian growth makes Western environmentalism pointless, but that same growth is the exact reason we need to take global warming more seriously, working in whatever ways we can to offset the rampant consumption in the East. And, by proxy, that means we need to start taking electric cars more seriously. Far from this being the end of the world as we know it, we might just help preserve it for our grandkids.

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Comments

muricanmuscle

Ive neverbeen this early and cant think of a joke….great.

01/28/2017 - 13:28 |
6 | 3

Ill give you one…

My love life! 😂

01/28/2017 - 14:02 |
7 | 1
King Kaw

Pretty nice article but i think i hear a tesla calling my name……to be swapped with a V8!!!!!!!

01/28/2017 - 13:28 |
21 | 3
lapped_nurburgring_sub_7_min_on_tricycle

In reply to by King Kaw

in the front and the back for AWD

01/28/2017 - 14:44 |
8 | 0
StuttgartMadness

Well, it kinda says something when a volcano blows more pollution into the air in a few seconds then all cars put together in a year…

01/28/2017 - 13:33 |
3 | 2

I’m pretty sure the content of that pollution is pretty different…

01/28/2017 - 17:10 |
2 | 0

We cant control volcanoes. We CAN control out emissions.

01/28/2017 - 21:15 |
2 | 0

What does that tell us? Enlighten us, please. It is like if 20% of everyone you meet in real life are morons, on internet that share is 95%. At least in the comment sections. Are you really this ignorant?

01/28/2017 - 23:09 |
1 | 1
Andrea Nope

As of today, electricity is still produced by air polluting methods. So, either type of car pollutes the air.
It’s just that people driving electric vehicles want to feel “clean” because it’s not their responsibility anymore…

01/28/2017 - 13:45 |
93 | 7

I agree with you, but the thing is that an electric car is using electricity produced by burning fuel and alternative energies(wind,solar…) while a normal car would only use energy produced by petrol combustion. Of course electric vehicles are not zero emissions (if we consider the entire process of energy production), but at least they benefit from renewable energies. It is also important the fact that they do not give off exhaust fumes, which allows cities to have cleaner air.

01/28/2017 - 14:49 |
34 | 2

Depends on where you live

01/28/2017 - 15:42 |
2 | 0

No, people who driving electric vehicles want to feel instant torque. F feeling clean.

01/28/2017 - 17:06 |
1 | 1

You have to consider that the efficiency of a regular engine is about 30%, electricity made from polluting methods is made with an efficiency of 50-60% so yes, it’s not zero emission but it’s already a beginning on cutting the emissions

01/28/2017 - 20:10 |
5 | 0
V-Tech and EcoBoost kicked in yo

In reply to by Andrea Nope

Most countries produce electricity that is partially renewable.

Also, an electric powered by 100% coal plant energy is still more clean than you average gas burner. Coal plants make Priuses look like ‘70s muscle cars because coal plants are always running at the most efficient setting possible. Some plants, such as CHP plants, can have up to 80% efficiency. For comparison, a 2016 Prius’s gas engine has a peak efficiency of 40%.

Yes, electricity is not “clean” but it is cleaner than gas or diesel. And renewables are steadily growing.

01/28/2017 - 21:12 |
3 | 0
Anonymous

Asian Middle class guy here… I am TRIGGERED

01/28/2017 - 14:03 |
12 | 2
Akashneel

In reply to by Anonymous (not verified)

LOL

01/28/2017 - 15:28 |
2 | 1
iCypher(Joel Chan)

This will inevitably happen. As more families in Asia buy more cars because they earn more, demand for oil will increase. I can assure you, infrastructure will not be able to catch up in the case of Asia. I just know it. If it took Tesla so long to get the Supercharger networks across certain countries(To which, not all areas have them), it will take a lot longer in Asia.

01/28/2017 - 14:07 |
2 | 1

Oil is become very expensive to drill and the environmental impact is far worse than we’re being told. Fracking is short lived and all Wells leak eventually, they’re getting desperate.
If oil price is low the economy benefits, the problem for oil companies is they can’t cope with current prices & need them to go up to stay alive, but then that will crash the economy…

01/29/2017 - 03:33 |
0 | 0
0OUTL4W

why do electric cars look so stupid

01/28/2017 - 14:10 |
3 | 3
Anonymous

If this pushes oil demand up massively, it may make fuel reaaaallly expensive..

01/28/2017 - 14:31 |
3 | 1
Anonymous

In reply to by Anonymous (not verified)

Big oil is finished no matter what.

01/29/2017 - 03:15 |
0 | 0
Antiprius

Will that actually happen? Correct me if I’m wrong, but in China for example you have huge income inequality thanks to a tiny minimum wage and lower taxes on the wealthy. The vast majority of China’s population are either factory workers who could never afford a car or farmers who don’t really want one. I see no reason whatsoever why these people are going to magically start earning more all of a sudden. The Chinese economy is set up to benefit those at the top. The middle class is comparatively very small, and I can’t see a reason why it would just explode suddenly.

01/28/2017 - 14:44 |
3 | 0
Ben Ireland

Easy solutions (in theory)

Plan A:

  1. Mass development of clean energy sources (nuclear fusion/fission, renewables e.g solar power)
  2. Mass mechanical education about electric motors/vehicular technology
  3. Mass marketing and development of affordable electric cars for developing markets such as the far east

    and Africa

01/28/2017 - 14:54 |
13 | 0

Plan B:

  1. Mass R&D of affordable and safe hydrogen fuel cell vehicles
  2. Mass implementation of necessary infrastructure needed for hydrogen fuel cell vehicles and mechanical education
  3. Mass market of these vehicles to the developing world
01/28/2017 - 14:56 |
8 | 1