Busting EV Myths

As The Adoption Of EVs Increases, So Do The Electric Car Myths. Time To Bust The Top 3 Myths!

Range Anxiety

This is certainly the most perpetuated myth. It might lead you to think that most drivers in the UK intend to travel several hundred miles a day! This is certainly not the case. In fact, the average commute in the UK is a mere 12 miles.

If you look at the 2019 line up of electric cars, models like the Tesla Model S can achieve up to 375 miles on a single charge. Even smaller cars like the Renault Zoe, have a range up to 186 miles.

Route map john o groats to lands end — Route Map: John o’ Groats to Land’s End

Let me put this in perspective. If you had to travel from John o’ Groats (Scotland) to Land’s End (Cornwall), a distance just under 840 miles, in a Tesla Model S, the battery will need to be charged up to 3 times. Which is not terrible, given that in a commute of up to 15 hours, you will, in any case, need to stop a few times.

If you made the same journey in a Renault Zoe, you will need to charge the battery on five occasions. But in reality how many times are you going to make this trip? Daily? Of course not. The most common daily trips are usually a short school run, a work commute and an evening visit to the local grocery store. If there is ever a doubt of the distance an EV can travel, look no further. In early 2019, an individual completed a 90,000 km journey over three years in an electric car!

Limited Public Charging Points

Closely related to range anxiety, is the concern of limited public charging points. It is true that there is much room to increase available public charging infrastructure in the UK, with some commentators suggesting up to 100,000 charging points by 2020. But, according to ZAP-MAP, as of 15^thMay 2019, there are 22,716 connectors and 13,380 devices across 8,318 locations.

Public charging points are increasing daily, with 643 installed in the past 30 days. So, what’s the myth? According to the UK government and a Go Ultra Low campaign, up to 90% of cars are charged at home. Moreover, the UK is witnessing rapid deployment of charging infrastructure at the workplace.

Yes, the public charging infrastructure needs to be expanded rapidly, but the existing system shouldn’t prevent the rapid adoption of electric cars in the UK. The UK is ready for more EVs on the road. If ever you are in doubt about charging for a journey, best to use the Charge Map to identify public charging points on your route/s.

Solar modules producing green energy — Solar Modules Producing Green Energy: Credit: Andreas

Electric Cars Are Not Green

A favourite myth at e-zoomed. The supporters of internal-combustion engine vehicles have argued that the manufacturing and running of an EV has a carbon footprint larger than petrol and diesel cars. In other words, they are trying to convince the world that ‘clean cars’ pollute more than fossil fuel driven cars! It’s simply not true.

Let us first tackle the point on using coal generation to charge EVs. In the UK there is no doubt about a substantial migration to renewable energy. In fact, as recently as a few weeks ago, the UK consumed power for an entire week without using coal. The National Grid is committed to operating a zero-carbon electricity system by 2025. Moreover, most EV owners are acutely aware of the negative impact of coal and prefer sourcing green energy. A number of suppliers, including the big six, now offer a vast range of very competitive green energy plans for the EV owner. You can even get a competitive quote on green energy right here at e-zoomed!

In regards to the second point, the manufacturing of EVs, the recent report by Carbon Brief says it all.

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