If Mr. Bean is a thought leader on transportation planning, policy and implementation, Britain may have a problem.
On the other hand The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders just announced:
UK reaches million EV milestone as new car market grows
From News Corp., Australia, February 8:
Legendary British actor and comedian has been blamed by the House of Lords for slowing electric car sales in damaging findings.
Rowan Atkinson has been blamed for plunging electric car sales according to the House of Lords.
The British comedian and actor was blamed for “damaging” public perception of electric cars after an article he wrote for the Guardian in 2023 poured cold water on the emerging clean technology.
Atkinson is a known car enthusiast and has owned iconic supercars such as the McLaren F1.
In his 2023 column Atkinson says he felt “duped” by electric cars despite being an early adopter. He claimed that electric cars aren’t as environmentally friendly as they seem.
Atkinson says the problem with this is it focuses on just one part of the car’s operating life: what comes out of the exhaust pipes and ignores other elements such as the manufacturing and the mining of rare earth minerals, shipping and building of the batteries.
The finding that Atkinson was partly to blame for slowing sales of electric cars was revealed by the House of Lords environment and climate change committee.
UK think tank the Green Alliance says: “One of the most damaging articles was a comment piece written by Rowan Atkinson in The Guardian which has been roundly debunked.”
Other deterrents identified by the committee were the high purchase price and insufficient charging infrastructure....
....MUCH MORE
We happened to catch Mr. Atkinson's opinion piece in June 2023's Rowan Atkinson: "I love electric vehicles – and was an early adopter. But increasingly I feel duped".
Didn't catch the debunking however.
