Eight EV myths busted

Eight EV myths busted

If you didn’t know anything about electric cars, you could be forgiven for having mixed views on them. Despite their appearance on our roads skyrocketing recently, the media and its commentators haven’t always been positive about them.

From claims that they harm children in Africa, can’t drive further than the end of your driveway, and must be driven without air-conditioning or radio. There are some wild conspiracies about EVs, but the reality is a little different. 

Therefore, in this article, we’re going to bust eight of the most common EV’s myths with facts.

1. EVs are expensive

It is true that many EVs hitting the showrooms now are expensive. However, many of these models are sold in a luxury category, which has always been pricey. You can today pick up many used EVs for under £10,000. And on PCP deals or leases, you can get a whole new EV for less than £200 a month.

2. Public charging costs loads

In a recent programme about EVs, TV presenter Guy Martin claimed a road trip he undertook in an EV cost over £200. He must have done something very wrong. Most public chargers cost around 20p to 40p per kWh – the most expensive in the UK is 70p per kWh, but these chargers are ultra-rapid. You’d need a battery the size of a small moon to be spending more than £15 for a top up – most EVs will cost even less than this when charging on the road.

3. EVs are bad for the environment

It’s true that EV’s require rare minerals in their development, including cobalt, lithium and nickel. However, many of these same elements are already used in normal cars and other everyday items. Over their lifetime, though, an EV will use less resources and create fewer emissions than if we were to keep using fossil fuels. As more people buy EVs, many carmakers and other businesses are now looking to recycle EV materials, especially batteries, at the end of their life.

4. EVs have limited range

Back in the early days, when EVs were still a new idea, range was rather limited. That has all changed in the last few years as battery technology and capacity has improved. Even small cars like the Renault Zoe can do well over 200 miles. They can also be charged much quicker too. Many EVs can now add 100 miles of range in just 10 minutes.

5. You can’t use the radio or heating in an EV

Everyone has experienced a battery-based product that has let them down, like a torch or TV remote. Many therefore assume that an electric car, using all its functions, such as the heating, sound system or AC, will drain the battery. In a recent study by Which?, this was found to be a misconception. In reality, even using all these items while stationary will barely touch your vehicle's range.

6. There are barely any chargepoints

The UK now has more EV chargepoints than it does petrol stations. In total, there are now 25,000 chargepoints across the country. And these numbers are only going up. According to the government, since 2015 the number of public chargers has grown by 44% per year, on average. Rapid chargepoints that can add 100s of miles in just 30 minutes have increased much faster, with an annual increase of 62%. 

7. EVs are worthless after two years

EVs retain their value well years after they were made. That’s because they not only contain valuable and reusable material, but they remain efficient and capable well into old age. While after repeated usage, an EV’s battery capacity will drop, it will only be marginally so. For example, a taxi service working from Gatwick using Tesla’s reported they still got 82% of their range, despite doing 300,000 miles per vehicle. 

8. The grid can’t cope with more EVs

As more of the country shifts to electric, there will be a higher demand on the national grid. However, according to Graeme Cooper, the National Grid’s Director of Transport Decarbonisation, it’s not going to be a problem: “if the impossible happened and we all switched to EVs overnight, we think demand would only increase by around 10%. So, we’d still be using less power as a nation than we did in 2002.”