EVs Sparking a Revolution? Not so fast

Heat Wave: The Continent struggles to cope with the new normal. Image by Adobe Stock

With this summer’s unrelenting heat enveloping Southern Europe, the media has taken perverse joy in stories about vacationing Americans miffed at Europeans’ stinginess at deploying air conditioning—if at all—at levels we are used to in the U.S. The reason is simple: like everything, electricity is more expensive in Europe. Two to three times more. That’s been true of gasoline too, which Europeans have coped with by prioritizing smaller, lighter, efficient vehicles augmented by shorter distances and ubiquitous, modern, subsidized mass transit. But given the high cost of juice, and the fact that urban dwellers tend not to own private homes, reliance on public charging and its inherent unreliability and wait times, it’s hard to see the business case for widespread EV adoption. Understandably, carmakers are responding to legislation intended to outlaw gas power. But I’ve observed scant evidence of pushback by Europe’s powerful manufacturers and unions. On the contrary, carmakers are all in despite the obvious contradictions and compromises associated with EVs. Britain’s rubber-faced comedic icon, Mr. Bean (Rowan Atkinson, who just happens to have a degree in electronic engineering), spells it out in a clear-eyed, dispassionate essay in The Guardian. Well worth reading.