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Are we putting too much faith into electric vehicles?

Billions of dollars are being invested in electric vehicles in the name of fighting climate change. But are they really the best solution?

Billions of dollars are being invested in electric vehicles in the name of fighting climate change. World leaders are backing them as the green fix for our burgeoning road transport emissions. But when you factor in the carbon emissions that come from manufacturing EVs, how well do they stack up against their petrol and diesel counterparts? If all the cars on the road switched to EVs, could we meet our climate targets?

This week The Climate Question looks under the bonnet of electric vehicles – and whether there is an altogether better solution.

Presenters Neal Razzell and Kate Lamble are joined by:

Heather Maclean, Professor of Civil and Mineral Engineering, University of Toronto
Quentin Willson, Motoring journalist and EV campaigner
Clarisse Cunha Linke, Brazil Director of the Institute for Transportation & Development Policy
Estelle Honnerat, reporter in Paris
Dr Emma Smith, Research Fellow in Antarctic Seismology, University of Leeds

Producer: Sophie Eastaugh
Researcher: Natasha Fernandes
Series Producer: Alex Lewis
Editor: Emma Rippon
Sound engineer: Tom Brignell

Available now

28 minutes

Last on

Mon 10 Jan 2022 21:06GMT

Broadcasts

  • Mon 10 Jan 2022 04:06GMT
  • Mon 10 Jan 2022 09:06GMT
  • Mon 10 Jan 2022 13:32GMT
  • Mon 10 Jan 2022 20:06GMT
  • Mon 10 Jan 2022 21:06GMT

Podcast