meta_pixel
Tapesearch Logo
Log in
The Jordan Harbinger Show

1301: Electric Vehicles | Skeptical Sunday

The Jordan Harbinger Show

Jordan Harbinger

Science, Business, Education

4.8 • 12.3K Ratings

🗓️ 22 March 2026

⏱️ 55 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Are electric vehicles a green revolution or just greenwashing on wheels? Nick Pell pops the hood and breaks it all down here on Skeptical Sunday!

Welcome to Skeptical Sunday, a special edition of The Jordan Harbinger Show where Jordan and a guest break down a topic that you may have never thought about, open things up, and debunk common misconceptions. This time around, we’re joined by writer and researcher Nick Pell!

Full show notes and resources can be found here: jordanharbinger.com/1301

On This Week's Skeptical Sunday:

  • Electric vehicles carry zero tailpipe emissions, but the electricity powering them often comes from coal and natural gas plants — meaning your EV's true environmental footprint depends heavily on where you live and how your local grid generates power.
  • The cobalt fueling EV batteries comes overwhelmingly from the Democratic Republic of Congo — one of the poorest, most unstable nations on Earth — where child labor, armed militia control of mines, and toxic contamination of local communities remain deeply troubling realities.
  • EVs start with a larger carbon deficit than gas-powered cars due to battery manufacturing, but they erase that debt within 15,000 to 50,000 miles — and every mile driven after that threshold is cleaner than the equivalent gas-powered mile would be.
  • The average EV costs about $53,000 compared to $36,000 for a gas-powered car, with batteries alone accounting for 30 to 40 percent of the price — and federal tax credits that once softened the blow have been eliminated.
  • EV technology is rapidly evolving — with lighter, faster-charging batteries on the horizon and recycling infrastructure growing — so doing your homework on total cost of ownership, local grid sources, and available incentives can help you make a smarter, more informed decision.
  • Connect with Jordan on Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube. If you have something you'd like us to tackle here on Skeptical Sunday, drop Jordan a line at jordan@jordanharbinger.com and let him know!

And if you're still game to support us, please leave a review here — even one sentence helps!

This Episode Is Brought To You By Our Fine Sponsors:

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Welcome to Skeptical Sunday. I'm your host, Jordan Harbinger. Today I'm here with Skeptical

0:07.4

Sunday co-host writer and researcher Nick Pell. On the Jordan Harbinger show, we decode the stories,

0:12.2

secrets, and skills of the world's most fascinating people and turn their wisdom into practical

0:16.5

advice that you can use to impact your own life and those around you. Our mission is to help you

0:20.7

become a better informed, more critical thinker. During the week, we have long-forms

0:24.4

conversations with a variety of amazing folks from spies to CEOs, athletes, authors, thinkers,

0:28.8

and performers. On Sundays, though, it's skeptical Sunday where a rotating guest co-host and I

0:33.8

break down a topic you may have never thought about and debunk common misconceptions about

0:38.0

that topic. Such as astrology, acupuncture, the wedding industry, the death industry, homeopathy,

0:43.2

hypnosis, and more. And if you're new to the show or you want to tell your friends about the show,

0:47.0

I suggest our episode starter packs. These are collections of our favorite episodes on persuasion,

0:51.9

negotiation, psychology, disinformation, junk science, crime

0:55.2

and cults, and more that'll help new listeners get a taste of everything we do here on the show.

0:59.3

Just visit jordanharbinger.com slash start or search for us in your Spotify app to get started.

1:04.9

Today on the show, electric vehicles aren't exactly new, but something about them still feels futuristic.

1:10.6

You see one glide by and it's

1:12.2

silent, sleek, often with that signature blue glow. It's one of the few examples we have today of

1:17.1

feeling like you're looking at the future. And if it's a Tesla cyber truck, you can't help but stare.

1:22.0

Whether you think it's brilliant or a Samsung refrigerator on wheels, it's hard to ignore.

1:26.9

But for all their high-tech promise,

1:28.7

a growing number of people are asking uncomfortable questions. Are EVs really the clean,

1:33.7

green revolution we've been promised? Or are they just the next chapter in a century-long story

...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Jordan Harbinger, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Jordan Harbinger and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.

Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.