Busting EV Myths: Electric Cars Are Here To Stay!

Tesla Model 3 electric car

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


For those of you new to zero-emission electric driving, we recommend a read of the following articles:

  • Types Of Electric Vehicles: A Short Guide
  • Should I Buy An Electric Car In 2021?
  • Top 20 Jargons Used In The Electric Vehicle Industry!
  • UK Plug-In Electric Car Grant 2021
  • What Is The Difference Between Conventional Hybrids and Plug-In Hybrids?
  • Electric Car Home Charging OLEV EVHS Grant
  • Best Electric Cars 2021
  • Electric Cars Range: What Is WLTP?

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 all-electric Tesla Model S can achieve up to 375 miles on a single charge. Even smaller cars like the Renault Zoe pure electric hatchback, 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 EV, 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 an all-electric 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 a plug-in electric vehicle 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 electric car 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 15thMay 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.


The All-Electric Renault Zoe (credit: Renault)
The All-Electric Renault ZOE (credit: Renault)

Electric Cars Are Not Green 


A favourite myth at e-zoomed. The supporters of internal-combustion engine (ICE) vehicles have argued that the manufacturing and running of a BEV (battery-electric vehicle) 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.

green electricity
You Can Switch To Green Energy Via e-zoomed

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.


wallbox EV charger
EV Charging Stations Available Via e-zoomed (credit: Wallbox)

For those of you seeking to buy and install EV home charging points, we offer a vast range of high quality and high performance electric car charging points to include a seamless service of supply of product and installation at very competitive prices.



Author

Ashvin Suri

Ashvin has been involved with the renewables, energy efficiency and infrastructure sectors since 2006. He is passionate about the transition to a low-carbon economy and electric transportation. Ashvin commenced his career in 1994, working with US investment banks in New York. Post his MBA from the London Business School (1996-1998), he continued to work in investment banking at Flemings (London) and JPMorgan (London). His roles included corporate finance advisory, M&A and capital raising. He has been involved across diverse industry sectors, to include engineering, aerospace, oil & gas, airports and automotive across Asia and Europe. In 2010, he co-founded a solar development platform, for large scale ground and roof solar projects to include the UK, Italy, Germany and France. He has also advised on various renewable energy (wind and solar) utility scale projects working with global institutional investors and independent power producers (IPP’s) in the renewable energy sector. He has also advised in key international markets like India, to include advising the TVS Group, a multi-billion dollar industrial and automotive group in India. Ashvin has also advised Indian Energy, an IPP backed by Guggenheim (a US$ 165 billion fund). He has also advised AMIH, a US$ 2 billion, Singapore based group. Ashvin has also worked in the real estate and infrastructure sector, to including working with the Matrix Group (a US$ 4 billion property group in the UK) to launch one of the first few institutional real estate funds for the Indian real estate market. The fund was successfully launched with significant institutional support from the UK/ European markets. He has also advised on water infrastructure, to include advising a Swedish clean technology company in the water sector. He is also a member of the Forbury Investment Network advisory committee. He has also been involved with a number of early stage ventures.

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