EV disinfo attracting millions of views on social media during COP27

The briefing highlights a viral video by John Stossel featuring Mark Mills that spreads debunked claims about EV battery mineral requirements and their impact on global oil consumption. It notes the video's high engagement across YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter, and links the content to funding from Koch foundations. The document counters these claims using data from Argonne National Laboratory, IHS Markit, and the Union of Concerned Scientists to affirm that EVs generally emit less carbon over their lifespan than internal combustion engine vehicles.

• A video by John Stossel discussing "inconvenient facts" about electric vehicles (EVs) gained significant traction during the start of COP27, recording 850k views on YouTube, 723k views on Facebook, and 911k views on Twitter within two weeks.
• The video features Mark Mills of the Manhattan Institute, who has received over $1.3 million from Koch foundations since 2014, and the content is further amplified as op-eds in Reason, the Daily Caller, and the Daily Signal.
• The briefing debunks the claim that producing an EV battery requires "500,000 pounds" of minerals, noting this has been fact-checked by AFP and USA Today.
• The document disputes Mark Mills' assertion that 500 million EVs would only reduce world oil consumption by about 10%, arguing that based on 2022 data where 19 million zero-emission vehicles avoid almost 1.7 million barrels of oil per day, the actual reduction would be significantly higher.
• Data from Argonne National Laboratory, IHS Markit, and the Union of Concerned Scientists indicate that EVs generally emit less carbon over a 12-year lifespan than diesel or petrol cars, even when powered by a coal-heavy grid.

APA

Climate Action Against Disinformation (2022). EV disinfo attracting millions of views on social media during COP27. https://caad.info/analysis/briefings/briefing-note-ev-disinfo-attracting-millions-of-views-on-social-media-during-cop27/

Chicago

Climate Action Against Disinformation. EV disinfo attracting millions of views on social media during COP27. 2022. https://caad.info/analysis/briefings/briefing-note-ev-disinfo-attracting-millions-of-views-on-social-media-during-cop27/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Climate Action Against Disinformation |title=EV disinfo attracting millions of views on social media during COP27 |date=18 November 2022 |url=https://caad.info/analysis/briefings/briefing-note-ev-disinfo-attracting-millions-of-views-on-social-media-during-cop27/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{climateactionagainstdisinformation2022disinfo, author = {{Climate Action Against Disinformation}}, title = {{EV disinfo attracting millions of views on social media during COP27}}, institution = {Climate Action Against Disinformation}, year = {2022}, month = nov, url = {https://caad.info/analysis/briefings/briefing-note-ev-disinfo-attracting-millions-of-views-on-social-media-during-cop27/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }