E-rickshaws driving away pollution ⏲️ 6 Minute English

Hello. This is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English.

I'm Neil. And I'm Beth.

I had my first drive in an electric car yesterday, Neil.

It was amazing! Electric cars are great

in theory, but who has the money to buy one?

It's true that electric vehicles, or EVs as they're also called

are expensive, but in some parts of the world

the switch to electric vehicles has been a major success story

in the fight against climate change and

it's not just rich people switching to electric. In India,

poorer workers are embracing it, too.

Yes, in India

it's the drivers of small vehicles like motorbikes, mopeds, scooters

and rickshaws known as two- and three- wheelers who dominate the road.

And now, over half of these are electric. In this programme,

we will be discussing the growing role of electric vehicles

in the fight against climate change.

And as usual, we'll be learning some useful new vocabulary as well.

Great. But first,

I have a question for you, Neil.

In India, many different vehicles use the road,

but which country's car market is the biggest? Is it

a) the US b) China or c) Japan?

Well, I'll guess it's the US that has the world's largest automobile market.

OK, Neil, I'll reveal the answer

at the end of the programme.

While electric vehicles score better than petrol or diesel cars

in most environmental tests,

there is some debate about exactly how green

they are. A lot depends on how the electricity is generated

in the first place, and in India, more than three quarters

of the electricity used continues to be generated by coal.

Nevertheless, in India,

the transition to green transport is well under way.

Here's Louise Ribet,

head of the climate organisation,

C40 Cities, explaining the appeal of EVs to Graihaigh

Jackson for BBC World Service Programme

'The Climate Question:

What is it about two

and three-wheelers that is so appealing?

I think it can be summarised in one word and it's convenience. From

an accessibility and affordability and efficiency point of view. And

on that first point of accessibility,

The state of public transport is not as developed as it is in places

like London or Singapore. There's no metro lines or fancy bus networks

and two- and three-wheelers spread in response to this lack of

sufficient or high quality, frequent public transport infrastructure.

Graihaigh asks why electric vehicles are so appealing,

so desirable and attractive.

There are several reasons behind EV's appeal

including convenience and affordability -

being cheap enough for people to buy.

In places without reliable public transport, electric scooters are filling the gap.

That's really needed because the massive increase of petrol cars

in Delhi has created a toxic and very serious health risk -

smog. Smog is air pollution caused by a mixture of smoke chemicals,

and especially car exhaust fumes.

It makes the atmosphere

difficult to breathe and very unhealthy.

What's more, because children are smaller and closer to car exhaust pipes, smog

affects them most. In winter,

the air in Delhi gets so bad

they have to close the schools, sometimes for weeks.

Here's Graihaigh Jackson again, taking up the story for BBC

World Service's 'The Climate Question'.

They're having to shut schools because the pollution is so bad!

Gosh, that's hardly a solution is it!

What can be done about it? Well, for India,

the solution partly lies in switching to electric scooters and

e-rickshaws. By 2030,

the Government wants 30% of its vehicles on the road to be electric

and has put up $1.2 billion to make that happen.

When Graihaigh discusses schools shutting because of air pollution,

she uses the word 'gosh',

an expression used to show a strong feeling of surprise or wonder.

Luckily, the Indian government is taking measures to improve Delhi's air quality,

largely through the switch to greener electric vehicles.

The Government has put up over one billion dollars to make this happen.

The phrasal verb, 'put up' money for something means to provide

the money needed to pay for it. In this area,

it seems India is leading the world,

which reminds me of your quiz question Beth.

That's right. I asked you

which country has the world's largest automobile market

and you said the US, which was... the wrong answer,

I'm afraid, Neil.

In fact, it's now China

that tops the list, showing that when it comes to green transport, bigger

isn't always better. Right,

it's time to recap the vocabulary

we've learnt in this programme

starting with two-wheeler - a vehicle with two wheels,

such as a bicycle motorbike or moped.

The adjective 'appealing' means attractive, desirable or interesting.

'Affordability' refers to being cheap enough for people to buy,

or in other words, inexpensive. Smog is air pollution caused by smoke

and car fumes which makes the atmosphere unhealthy and difficult

to breath. 'Gosh' is an expression used to show

a strong feeling of surprise

or wonder. And finally, if you put up the money

for something, you provide the money needed to pay for it. Once again,

our six minutes are up,

but remember to join us again next time

for more trending topics and useful vocabulary here at 6 Minute

English. Goodbye for now. Bye!