Tipping Points: The Climate Podcast
Jun 18, 2026 · 38 min · 11 segments
Season 2 Episode 2: Is it better to buy a new electric car or keep my old petrol car? Isn't range a big problem? It's difficult to find charge points, right? Will my battery just blow up? These…
Chris PocockHost
[upbeat music] So to give everyone context of the industry and the comparison we're making today, so road transport makes up roughly 12% of global emissions, and 60 to 70% of that is attributed specifically to passenger cars.
So a lot of the picture of global emissions do come directly from passenger vehicles and specifically within electric cars.
So electric cars make up roughly 25% of all new car sales globally, um, and that's experiencing a 35% year-on-year growth.
Um, and there are a few concentrations distinctly of where that's happening, and they're not necessarily where you might expect to.
Probably the biggest champion globally of electric cars is Norway with more than 70, sorry, more than 98% of new sales being electric vehicles.
And that's interesting, uh, because not only do they often drive long distances in very hilly places, but it's obviously a very cold country as well.
And one of the stereotypes of electric vehicles is they're not, they're not as effective in the cold.
One of the other truths is that Asia and Latin America are now really the main driver of new electric car sales.
So something like 60-plus percent growth is occurring across Asia and Latin America.
But both of us get asked quite frequently a lot of questions like, "But, you know, surely it's better to buy an, an old petrol car and run it into the ground rather than buy a brand-new electric vehicle," or, "Isn't battery production awful, and isn't that therefore bad for the planet?" There's a load of red herrings around this topic, so can't wait to get into it.
And without any further faff, Natalie, are electric vehicles really better for the planet once you include battery production?
[upbeat music] So to give everyone context of the industry and the comparison we're making today, so road transport makes up roughly 12% of global emissions, and 60 to 70% of that is attributed specifically to passenger cars.
So a lot of the picture of global emissions do come directly from passenger vehicles and specifically within electric cars.
So electric cars make up roughly 25% of all new car sales globally, um, and that's experiencing a 35% year-on-year growth.
Um, and there are a few concentrations distinctly of where that's happening, and they're not necessarily where you might expect to.
Probably the biggest champion globally of electric cars is Norway with more than 70, sorry, more than 98% of new sales being electric vehicles.
And that's interesting, uh, because not only do they often drive long distances in very hilly places, but it's obviously a very cold country as well.
And one of the stereotypes of electric vehicles is they're not, they're not as effective in the cold.
One of the other truths is that Asia and Latin America are now really the main driver of new electric car sales.
So something like 60-plus percent growth is occurring across Asia and Latin America.
But both of us get asked quite frequently a lot of questions like, "But, you know, surely it's better to buy an, an old petrol car and run it into the ground rather than buy a brand-new electric vehicle," or, "Isn't battery production awful, and isn't that therefore bad for the planet?" There's a load of red herrings around this topic, so can't wait to get into it.
And without any further faff, Natalie, are electric vehicles really better for the planet once you include battery production?
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