Rowan Atkinson Is Trolled Over EV Criticism

Rowan Atkinson’s op-ed in the Guardian criticizing electric vehicles definitely created a bit of eye-rolling. Who, after all, is Mr. Bean to advise us on the issue? Actually it turns out he has degrees in “electrical and electronic engineering, with a subsequent master’s in control systems.” That matters but ultimately the substance of what he says is the only relevant factor.

The title of his piece in the Guardian was “I love electric vehicles – and was an early adopter. But increasingly I feel duped.” As you might imagine, this was the equivalence of passing gas in the climate change church and met with quick outrage. The Guardian, to its credit, published a critical piece by Simon Evans of Carbon Brief who basically says Atkinson is flat-out wrong. The dispute between the two is worthy of consideration, both on the substance but for what it tells us about the nature of the debate over the energy transition.