Electric Cars And Our Hopes Of Zooming Past The Climate Crisis

"Mainstream EVs will transform the automotive industry and help decarbonize the planet" read the headline of a insights piece by a prominent management consulting firm while another newspaper reported "we are at a critical crossroads where electric vehicles and the decisions taken by key players will shape the future of transportation either for better or for worse". Going by the favorable global reportage and outlook expressed by mainstream media and analysts it seems electric vehicles (EV) are at the cusp of solving climate change driven existential crisis faced by the human race without impacting its mobility and incessant drive for 'rapid growth'. The growing interest in EV can be best seen through the adjoining chart (Figure 1) that traces the growth around EV conversations over the past 2 decades.

Figure 1

As we dig deeper to trace the shape of these conversations we observe that the EV related conversations, especially in the context of climate change and sustainability, has been rather positive. Analysis of a large collection of data, from a variety of data sources, using AI indicates that whenever conversations ventured around EVs and Sustainability / Climate change they were overwhelmingly positive or neutral (95% of all data) (Figure 2). 

Figure 2

In fact the only thing that seems to be stopping this progress is prohibitive cost of EVs, unfavorable regulations, lack of innovation in battery technology and infrastructural challenges. 

Yet, such a biased narrative building around EVs is not only driving the human race towards complacency but also painting an unethical portrait of human exploitation. There is a grave need for us to start realising the reality of EVs and how the drive towards a EVfied mobility only shifts the problem from one place to another without necessarily solving it.