In recent weeks, Murdoch’s media has come under close scrutiny. Former prime ministers Rudd and Malcolm Turnbull, as well as world-renowned climate scientist Michael Man, have lashed out at the misinformation about climate change they have released and broadcast.

The same accusation can also be applied to its reports and comments on renewable energy, especially wind energy. But in recent years, the most surprising goals made by its irony and mythology have been electric vehicles and efforts to clean up Australia’s dirty transport fleet.

Consumers are likely to ask themselves, how did Australia become a dumping ground for dirty cars that cannot be sold in most parts of the world? These vehicles emit serious pollution, causing nearly 2,000 Australian deaths each year, and are inefficient, adding approximately US$600 in additional fuel costs per vehicle per year.

Murdoch Media is an answer. It slammed the federal coalition’s tentative efforts to introduce fuel standards into a "wheel carbon tax", which was enough to prevent conservative politicians from getting on the right track, and it was a willingness to the coalition government’s gibberish about electric vehicles in the United States. Spokesperson. Until the last election.

They are still working hard. A recent Bloomberg article "Even Tesla can't end Australia’s hostility towards electric vehicles" has attracted the attention of international experts. They pointed out that in Australia, even tractor sales are 2% higher than electric vehicles. 1.

Conservatives and Murdoch’s media’s opposition to electric vehicles is difficult to understand because they are excellent technology. But for conservatives, they mean change and progress, and they confuse it with progressives, so this must be a bad thing. Not only that, they also threaten the business model of the fossil fuel industry, their biggest supporter.

In a decaying media environment, a recent article is compelling for being completely wrong and hateful at the same time. It appeared in the New South Wales Daily Telegraph earlier this month and was reprinted in full in Queensland's Courier Post, Western Australian, Countryman, and even the far-right Catallaxy archives.

The author is Vikki Campion, a former journalist, political media manager, and a partner of Barnaby Joyce, a former Kuomintang leader and deputy prime minister, and a regular columnist for Tele. This article has achieved something very unique-setting a new high standard for prejudice and misinformation about electric vehicles in one piece. Considering the competition, this is no easy task.

What is particularly striking is Campion’s absolute hatred of people who buy electric cars or what she calls “coal-burning” cars. They are not the "brick-and-hand sandpaper type" or "ordinary clay ones" that she claims to represent, but more like "the type of the world that looks at me and I am awake." She claims that electric car drivers are "criminating" , No matter what it is, and is a "urban guy who wants to spend $72,000 on Tesla." She may be surprised to learn that Tesla is also popular in remote areas.

Obviously, Campion has been watching too much the sky after dark, or believing what she saw on TV. But while language and emotion are important, Campion’s “factual” claims are another matter.

"The electric car itself is manufactured in China using Australian coal."

In 2020, almost none of the 6,900 electric vehicles sold in Australia were manufactured in China. Most are manufactured in the United States (Tesla), South Korea (Hyundai) and Japan (Leaf).

"Although the strange Tesla may come from jet fuel airlift, most of them are shipped here using fossil fuels."

The same goes for the 530,000 gasoline and 290,000 diesel vehicles sold in Australia last year.

"It is not even possible to tow a trailer, horse, boat, camper or caravan to the nearest charger in the bush."

There are many stories about the towing capacity of electric vehicles, such as airplanes, semi-trailers, or more practically boats or caravans.

"It will take decades for ordinary Australians, let alone the more vulnerable, to be able to afford electric cars."

It may only take a few years for electric car prices to reach parity, and it only takes a few years for automakers to stop producing gasoline cars. Of course, there will be more and more popular secondary markets and fleet owners, and electric vehicles may have brought them rich returns.

"If the Labour Party takes them seriously, they will completely abolish the luxury car tax."

Well, why does removing the luxury tax on Mercedes and BMW gasoline cars help make electric cars cheaper?

"New, cheap Chinese-made electric vehicles [sic] are not designed for the harsh conditions of Australian roads and are rarely tested by ANCAP. There are trade-offs, such as hybrid cars, or cheap but dangerous zero-emission cars, which emit much more emissions during their life cycles than gasoline cars."

Sigh, where to start. It is true that Tesla and MG are now producing electric cars in China for delivery in Australia, but they are not cheap, and they have been tested by ANCAP. And they scored very well. In some cases, the performance of the EV version (made in China) is better than the gasoline version. All studies show that the lifetime emissions of electric vehicles are much lower than gasoline vehicles. There is no evidence that the manufacture of any electric car is worse than gasoline cars.

"A cheap electric car that meets a tramp on the road between Tenterfield and Toowoomba at night will bring a whole new meaning to terror."

It's like any meeting between a cheap gasoline car and a roo.

"No car manufacturer or insurance company believes that there will be no gasoline cars on Australian roads in nine years."

No one claims that there will be no gasoline cars on the road in nine years. The average life of cars is 11-12 years, so their lifespan will be longer.

"By then, gasoline engines may be eliminated..."

"...But by 2034, those ordinary clays will still use the 2029 Toyota HiLux tugboat."

Some people may, but most "ordinary clay", although it sounds biblical and patronized, will be against Rivian, Cybertruck or even Ford electric F150, or electric Hummer.

"Electric cars have a place in densely populated cities with upgraded energy networks, where people drive short trips and can never afford their own houses, so you might as well blow coins on a set of expensive wheels."

Wait, you just said that no gasoline cars will be built after 2030! I drove more than 50,000 kilometers in an electric car in 18 months, including at least 5 round trips, 2,000 kilometers each time.

"There is no model in the market that is suitable for Labor Party policies and can be used for heavy work at any distance or traction in remote areas of Australia."

See picture above: Rivian, Tesla Cybertruck, Ford F150, Hummer.

"Only Tesla has an important utility in development."

See above, Rivian, Ford and Hummer.

"But it shows that no one can afford the Labor Party's understanding of the jungle."

In fact, Cybertrucks and Rivians may not be much more expensive than the ute models currently imported from Australia, such as the popular two-row Hilux, which costs about $70,000. For the technicians who purchase them on lease, the lower operating costs mean that this will be a financially wise move.

"According to car enthusiasts, a new all-wheel-drive Tesla will perform well on jagged dust, but whoever wants to spend $200,000 on a luxury SUV just to hit the anti-collision bar, Spots, towbars, roof racks, and pounding around the dirt on the road leading to the pony camp?"

Jagged dust? As exciting as it sounds, some of it may have been used in this article. Yes, you can pay close to US$200,000 for a luxury electric or petrol electric car, but most electric vehicles will not cost close to US$200,000.

"Look at all the cars on the road, and ask how the power grid in Australia is nearly broken, how does cooking, washing children's clothes and charging every damn car work."

In fact, the two-way charging of electric vehicles may mean that we have a more stable and resource-rich power grid than today.

Let us call it the Catweazle method of modern technology. Let us thank our lucky stars. People like this did not have such a big loudspeaker when the first car was on the road a century ago, nor did they launch airplanes, phones, or mobile phones. , The Internet, and even modern toasters.

Judging from the 509 comments published on Campion’s Tele article last time we checked, it seems that many of her readers agree with her, except for the self-proclaimed “left-handed” who bravely pointed out that if conservatives really People are so afraid of new technologies, they can rest assured that electric cars predate gasoline cars, as early as the 1850s. This is not so good.

But this is a deeply rooted subject. Let us not forget that most of Campion’s hype about electric vehicles here is made up of coalition ministers-especially Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Energy Secretary Angus Taylor, including They will "end the weekend". They also said some very stupid things about wind and solar energy, and compared large batteries to big bananas, prawns and Kardashians.

This makes it extremely impossible for them to realize that Australia has become a dumping ground for old technologies. Burning more fuel in inefficient engines has increased a lot of costs, caused thousands of deaths due to almost no reduction in pollutants, and reduced the country’s energy. Safety puts at the risk of completely relying on imported fuel.

Stupidity is stupidity. The fictional Forrest Gump movie character said that he made a fortune by investing in Apple. He thinks that Apple is a fruit company. This gave me an idea for battery storage or electric car brands that might win conservatives. Let's call it a banana.

Giles Parkinson is the founder and editor of The Driven. He also edited and founded the Renew Economy and One Step Off The Grid websites. He has worked as a journalist for nearly 40 years, served as an associate editor of the Australian Financial Review and a business person, and owns a Tesla Model 3.

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