17 May Electric Car myths busted
It is seriously exciting times for anyone considering making the change from their traditional petrol or diesel car to an electric vehicle. There has never been a larger choice of vehicles available, charging has never been easier and the government are offering a generous £3,500 towards the cost of a new Electric Vehicle (EV). 27% of drivers are considering a change to electric cars within the next few years the rises to 38% in the younger age group (18-34 yrs) according to LV General insurance research.
Some still have concerns about running an electric vehicle, here are some of the most common fears, our aim is to bust those myths!
- Electric cars aren’t powerful, 55 % of people believe this to be the case! Simply not true, in fact they can generate power and accelerate much quicker than their ICE (internal Combustion Engine) counterpart. This is due to EV’s (Electric Vehicle) using instant torque because they do not use gears.
- Can you believe that 12 % of people believe that you cannot use an EV on a motorway! Electric cars can be driven anywhere that a conventional vehicle can, especially with the growing network of chargers on motorways and A roads Zap Map, charging has never been simpler.
- Some people question whether you can wash an electric car in a car wash!! We all know that electricity and water don’t mix but these babies have been rigorously tested under a huge range of conditions and as safe as an ICE vehicle. You can of course drive them in the rain too!
- A quarter of people believe that an EV’s battery needs replacing every 5 years. Current predictions suggest that they will last 10 -20 years. Tesla predict that their batteries will run for 1,000000 miles.
- People may be worried about the safety of the battery pack and the risk of electrocution. Again, the cars have been rigorously tested and the batteries will be automatically disconnected in the event of a collision. The underside of the vehicles have also been reinforced to protect the battery packs.
- Nearly half of people asked were worried that electric cars cannot be used for long journeys, this just simply isn’t the case. Most EVs are capable of doing 100 miles with some having the ability to drive up to 300 miles on a single charge.
- People may worry that EV’s are more expensive to run than ICE vehicles. According to the Energy Savings Trust an electric vehicle run for 100 miles will cost £4-£6, by comparison a petrol or diesel vehicle will cost £13-£16 over the same distance. driveev.net estimate that on average an all electric vehicle will save you around £650 in tax and fuel a year! Maintenance cost are also around 70% less over a cars life time. This is before considering the fact that EV’s are exempt from road tax and the London Congestion Charge.
- People think there are no cash advantages of buying an Electric Vehicle. There is a £3500 government grant to help people buy an electric car and also grants are available to put toward the cost of installing an at home charger.
- People believe that EVs will never entirely replace ICE vehicles, however the UK has committed to be “effectively zero emission” by 2040 and the Government is under pressure to ban all sales of new petrol and diesel cars by 2032.
- People may feel that there aren’t enough public charge points. At the time of writing there are 16,738 charge point connectors on the UKs road networks (driveev.net) and this number is only getting bigger.
Sources:
Research done by LV insurance and via driveev.net
https://driveev.net
https://www.zap-map.com
https://www.lv.com/car-insurance/electric-car-insurance
Tesla Image:
Editorial credit: Sheila Fitzgerald / Shutterstock.com