The Inconvenient Truth About Electric Cars - The Green Lie Few Media Outlets Dare to Tell

 

The Inconvenient Truth About Electric Cars

The Green Lie Few Media Outlets Dare to Tell

By Kieran Beville

 

Electric vehicles (EVs) have become the darlings of climate policy and corporate sustainability goals. Governments promote them with subsidies, car manufacturers tout them as the future, and the media rarely questions the seemingly noble narrative: that switching from petrol/diesel to electric cars will solve the climate crisis.

But scratch beneath the surface of this “green revolution,” and a much more complicated picture emerges—one that many news outlets avoid, largely due to a financial ecosystem tied to EV advertising (newspapers/radio/TV), lobbying, and corporate sponsorships.

At the heart of the issue lies an uncomfortable reality: the transition to electric vehicles relies on a global supply chain built on environmental destruction, exploitative labour, and geopolitical instability.

The Mining Behind the Machines – A Dirty Secret

Electric cars may not have exhaust pipes, but they’re far from clean. Their environmental cost is merely hidden—displaced to the early stages of production, particularly in the mining of vital materials for batteries. These include lithium, cobalt, nickel, manganese, and rare earth elements, all of which are extracted in massive quantities to meet EV demand. Let’s take a closer look:

Cobalt: The Human Cost of Congolese Mining

Over 70% of the world’s cobalt—an essential component for stabilizing lithium-ion batteries—comes from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). In the DRC, mining conditions are often horrific. Tens of thousands of miners, including children, work in hand-dug pits for a few dollars a day, without protective gear or basic labour rights.

These "artisanal" mines expose workers to toxic dust, cave-ins, and long-term health issues. Investigations by Amnesty International and other watchdogs have linked major tech and EV companies to these operations—yet few take meaningful steps to enforce ethical sourcing. While some corporations pledge “conflict-free” supply chains, independent audits remain sparse and unenforced.

Lithium: Water Wars in Latin America

The so-called “Lithium Triangle”—spanning Chile, Argentina, and Bolivia—contains over half of the world’s lithium reserves. Extracting lithium from brine pools in these arid regions is extremely water-intensive.

In northern Chile, for example, communities in the Atacama Desert have reported falling water tables, dried-out salt flats, and collapsing ecosystems due to lithium mining. Indigenous groups complain of being side-lined in decision-making processes, their ancestral lands treated as expendable in the name of “green energy.”

Nickel and Rare Earths: Toxic Pollution Elsewhere

Nickel mining in Indonesia and the Philippines, often fuelled by deforestation and weak environmental regulations, leads to water contamination and air pollution. Similarly, rare earth element extraction in Inner Mongolia, China, generates toxic waste lakes that poison surrounding communities.

These externalities are almost entirely missing from the marketing language surrounding electric vehicles.

Out of Sight, Out of Mind: Why the Media Stays Silent

The dark side of EVs is rarely covered by mainstream media. This isn’t simply an oversight—it's structural. Media outlets today face enormous financial pressure, especially as ad revenues from traditional industries decline. In response, many rely increasingly on funding from tech companies, car manufacturers, and government-sponsored sustainability initiatives.

Tesla, Ford, Volkswagen, and other EV manufacturers spend millions on advertising and branding campaigns every year. Tech giants like Apple, Google, and Amazon—each invested in EV supply chains—also contribute heavily to digital ad revenue. This creates a subtle but powerful disincentive for newsrooms to publish stories that could jeopardise those relationships. And a myriad of car retail dealerships advertise in local and national media outlets.

Even climate coverage has been shaped by this bias. Major newspapers and TV networks often highlight the benefits of electrification, while glossing over its downsides. It’s not hard to see why. Criticizing EVs risks being labelled "anti-environment" and may alienate progressive readers. But the truth is more complex: blind optimism can be just as dangerous as denial.

Greenwashing and the Illusion of Progress

A troubling consequence of this manufactured consensus is the rise of greenwashing—where industries and governments promote false or misleading claims about environmental benefits. The idea that simply replacing petrol/diesel-powered cars with electric ones will solve our climate problems is not just naïve—it’s a distraction.

Electric cars still require roads, sprawling suburbs, parking lots, and energy-intensive manufacturing. They still contribute to traffic congestion, add to pollution (from tire and brake wear), and urban sprawl. And they don’t address broader questions about overconsumption, car dependency, or sustainable mobility.

Another issue rarely discussed is the source of the electricity that powers EVs. In most regions, particularly across Ireland, the European continent and the USA, a significant portion of the power grid still relies on fossil fuels like coal and natural gas. Charging an electric vehicle in these areas doesn’t eliminate emissions; it merely shifts them from the exhaust pipe to the power plant.

Moreover, as more drivers transition to EVs, the strain on national and local grids will increase sharply. Widespread electrification will require massive upgrades to power generation, transmission lines, and energy storage systems—not to mention the construction of millions of new charging stations. This puts enormous pressure on already fragile infrastructure and could contribute to grid instability, higher electricity costs, and even blackouts in high-demand areas.

In addition to infrastructure challenges, electric vehicles still face serious limitations in usability and convenience. Range anxiety—the fear that a car won’t make it to its destination on a single charge—is still a very real concern, especially in rural areas or during long-distance travel. Unlike filling a fuel in a couple of minutes, recharging an EV can take 30 minutes with fast charging, or several hours using standard home setups. Public charging stations remain unevenly distributed, often overburdened (you might have to wait in a queue as others charge their cars) or out of service. In cold weather, battery performance drops significantly, further reducing range. In Irish winters when it is raining and cold and dark you will have to use the windscreen wipers, the heater and lights. This significantly reduces the distance range. These practical hurdles have made many drivers wary, especially those who depend on their cars for long commutes, commercial use, or travel in remote regions.

The Truth Shouldn’t Be a Threat

Electric vehicles are not inherently evil—but they are not the climate saviours we’ve been sold, either. They represent a shift in technology, not a transformation of values. And as long as media coverage remains filtered through the lens of advertising, investment, and political convenience, the public will only get part of the story.

It’s time to stop treating any technology as a silver bullet. Real climate solutions require systemic change, public honesty, and a media brave enough to tell the truth—even when it’s inconvenient.