Whoops: Environmentalists Are Not Going to Be Happy About This New Electric Car Study

As anybody who truly loves science can tell you, science is about things being settled. When a scientist (or a celebrity who once met a scientist) tells you that something is a scientific fact, that’s all there is to it. The authority has spoken. The science is settled. And if another scientist disagrees, that person isn’t really a scientist and has blasphemed against science and must be cast out. That’s how science works. It’s about a credentialed class telling the rest of us how to live. Our role is to just keep our mouths shut and our wallets open.

One such settled scientific fact is that electric cars are better for the environment than the dirty gas-guzzlers most of us drive. We should all switch to electric cars so we’ll reduce our carbon footprint and save the planet. Until we do, we are bad people who hate the children and want them to die.

Right?

Hello?

Oscar Schneider, The Brussels Times:

When CO2 emissions linked to the production of batteries and the German energy mix – in which coal still plays an important role – are taken into consideration, electric vehicles emit 11% to 28% more than their diesel counterparts, according to the study, presented on Wednesday at the Ifo Institute in Munich.

Mining and processing the lithium, cobalt and manganese used for batteries consume a great deal of energy. A Tesla Model 3 battery, for example, represents between 11 and 15 tonnes of CO2…

When all these factors are considered, each Tesla emits 156 to 180 grams of CO2 per kilometre, which is more than a comparable diesel vehicle produced by the German company Mercedes, for example.

Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Electric cars emit… more pollution? As in… not less?

Of course, you realize what this means. This is fake science. Electric cars are actually good, because otherwise it would mean the smart fellers were wrong about something. If you drive a Tesla, you’re a good person.

It’s not about a bunch of stupid numbers and chemical symbols and crap. It’s about your conception of yourself. It’s about your ego. It’s about science.

Step off, false science-huggers. Feelings don’t care about your facts.

(Hat tip: Zero Hedge)