'Mr. Bean' actor blamed for poor electric car sales during climate change committee meeting

Rowan Atkinson, the beloved actor from the "Mr. Bean" series, was blamed during a climate change committee meeting for slow electric car sales.

During the environment and climate change committee meeting in the House of Lords in the United Kingdom, Atkinson was blamed by a long-standing green think tank called Green Alliance.

The group pointed to a 2023 op-ed by Atkinson in the Guardian, in which he pointed out logical inconsistencies with the U.K.'s phase-out of gas-powered cars by 2030.

"One of the most damaging articles was a comment piece written by Rowan Atkinson in the Guardian which has been roundly debunked," the think tank said, according to Sky News. "Unfortunately, fact checks never reach the same breadth of audience as the original false claim, emphasising the need to ensure high editorial standards around the net zero transition," they added.

In his piece, Atkinson revealed that he felt "duped" by electric cars, despite being an "early adopter" of the vehicles. He also said they felt "a bit soulless."

Regarding a proposed ban on new petrol or diesel cars, Atkinson said that the problem seemed to be "drawn from only one part of a car’s operating life: what comes out of the exhaust pipe."

"Volvo released figures claiming that greenhouse gas emissions during production of an electric car are nearly 70% higher than when manufacturing a petrol one. How so? The problem lies with the lithium-ion batteries fitted currently to nearly all electric vehicles," the actor continued.

"They’re absurdly heavy, huge amounts of energy are required to make them, and they are estimated to last only upwards of 10 years. It seems a perverse choice of hardware with which to lead the automobile’s fight against the climate crisis," Atkinson added.

The U.K.'s committee admitted in its report that "progress" with electric vehicle sales is "not happening fast enough."

The committee noted that only 3% of cars on U.K. roads are EVs and that they are "still more expensive than their petrol and diesel counterparts."

Solutions included tackling upfront costs, improving charging infrastructure, and ensuring proper recycling of batteries.

"The evidence we received shows the Government must do more – and quickly – to get people to adopt EVs," said the chair of the inquiry, Baroness Parminter.

The complainant, Green Alliance, has itself pushed for "inclusive policy making" and argued that "power and privilege" often correlate with emissions outputs, making it an important factor to consider for those involved with "environmental policy making."

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