General Motors is either deluded or deceitful in its promotion of electric cars as the way of the future, says the car buyer’s Dog & Lemon Guide.
Responding to General Motors’ statement that “a switch to electric cars is inevitable,” Dog & Lemon Guide editor Clive Matthew-Wilson said today:
“Globally, much of the electricity to power electric cars will be generated by burning coal or oil, so to claim that electric cars offer an alternative to fossil fuel-powered vehicles is complete nonsense. Also, the energy used to manufacture these cars in the first place is mostly going to come from burning fossil fuels.”
In an article titled “Reality killed the electric car”, Matthew-Wilson dismissed most of the claims made by General Motors and others.
“The planet faces a grievous energy shortage. Whether you power cars by electricity or petrol, you’re still using up precious energy. Switching cars from petrol to electricity is like an alcoholic switching from whisky to vodka – the real problem remains unchanged.”
“Electric cars simply don’t make economic or environmental sense. They’re plagued by the same problems that have dogged them since the early days of motoring: high cost, limited range and the constant need for recharging.”
“GM may have announced an electric car but it currently doesn’t work because the batteries to power it efficiently simply don’t exist and are unlikely to exist anytime soon.”
“The whole electric car movement is based around the myth that it’s possible to live a 1950s lifestyle in the 21st century. If Australia's motorways were full of electric cars, there’d still be gridlock and Australia would still be utterly addicted to fossil fuels.”
“General Motors is in desperate financial straits, so this announcement is mainly a public relations gesture. For now and the foreseeable future, General Motors will make most of its profits from gas-guzzling pickup trucks. It’s simply nonsense for GM to talk about powering its fleet by electricity anytime soon. ”
“Two years ago GM was saying that hydrogen powered cars were the way of the future. Now that hydrogen has been discredited as an alternative fuel, GM is telling us that electric cars are the next miracle. I flatly don’t believe a word they say.”
“Cars are the perfect form of transport on empty roads and the worst form of transport on busy roads. Any energy strategy that uses private cars for mass transport is like a fat person who thinks they can lose weight without dieting. It’s not going to happen.”