EV charging
petrol. The car industry is going to have to get serious about EV misinformation and the new government will need to ask if it has a role to play too.”
Quentin Willson, founder of FairCharge, said: “The energy transition is also a technology transition, away from the inefficient internal combustion engine to batteries and electric motors. The high level of ignorance about EVs has been created by a circular loop of repeated misinformation across social media and newspapers, posted and written for largely ideological reasons.
“Ironically, factual, evidence-based information on EV and batteries is literally in your grasp, your smartphone, where web searches will pull up the very latest data on battery life, EV fire risks, reliability, longevity and total cost of ownership. Too many consumers have been duped into believing re-heated, ill-informed myths and misinformation that’s often years old. “We know that for some, EVs will never fit into their belief systems, but that shouldn’t mean that thousands of ordinary drivers get suckered into believing the long loop of lies. You can become an expert on EVs just by doing some simple research on your own using independent and trusted data sources. The truth about EVs is in the palm of your hands.”
James Court, CEO of EVA England, said: “Our daily conversations with EV drivers, backed up by surveys, tell a constant story – that the vast majority of EV drivers are delighted with their cars, and would never go back to petrol or diesel. That’s because electric driving is cheap, clean and fun. What’s frustrating is that the constant stream of misinformation about EVs is holding so many people back from accessing all these benefits. This poll reveals the extent to
which many of the UK’s drivers have developed negative views about EVs that have no basis in reality.
“We want to see industry and Government think seriously about what they can do to tackle this misinformation. Because we know that, once people have access to accurate information, many will choose to make the move to electric driving and won’t look back.”
Cheaper to run?
The statements covered costs of owning and running an EV, charging, the natural resources needed to build and run an EV and even the likelihood of a fire. For example: Nearly two-thirds (62%) of petrol drivers believe it’s more expensive to own and run an EV, with only 14% correctly recognising that EVs are typically cheaper. A report from ECIU found that the drivers of the top 10 selling petrol cars of 2023 can find themselves paying a petrol premium of £700 a year in running costs, compared to an equivalent electric car. 41% of petrol drivers incorrectly think that EVs are more likely to catch fire than petrol cars, with only 24% correct in their understanding that they are less likely to catch fire. Evidence from EV Fire Safe indicated that EVs are more than 80 times less likely to catch fire than petrol or diesel cars. More than half (59%) of petrol drivers thought the UK’s electricity grid “will not be able to cope” with the UK’s shift to EVs, whereas only one in five (20%) correctly identified this statement as false. The National Grid has explicitly labelled this a ‘myth’ and is clear that the power system will be able to cope with millions more EVs in the UK. 80% of petrol drivers think the UK is not on course to install the charging infrastructure it needs, despite the country being ahead of
schedule to hit its target of 300,000 chargers on the UK’s roads by 2030.
More drivers (35%) incorrectly believed that an EV’s lifetime CO2 emissions are no less than those of a petrol car than correctly identified this statement as false (32%). An EV being driven in the UK produces three times less lifetime CO2 emissions that an equivalent petrol or diesel car. Where more petrol car drivers got the answer right than wrong was around energy independence where 37% recognized that more EVs running on British renewable electricity would make the UK more energy independent than relying on increasing imports of oil and petrol. 29% agreed with the incorrect statement that EVs would weaken the UK’s energy independence.
54% correctly disagreed with the statement that EVs are not better for urban air quality than petrol cars. Only 28% believed this statement to be true.
More petrol drivers (39%) correctly disagreed with the statement that EVs pose a threat to the structural integrity of the UK’s car parks than incorrectly agreed with it (33%).
Polling of 1,000 Non-Electric Vehicle (EV) Drivers (described above as ‘petrol car drivers’) in the UK and 1,000 Electric Vehicle (EV) Drivers in the UK conducted by YouGov from 4-15 April 2024
Source:
https://eciu.net/ media/press-releases/2024/
the-secret-life-of-evs-petrol-drivers-have-no- idea-what-owning-an-ev-is-really-like
ewnews.co.uk
December 2024 electrical wholesaler | 21
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40
