Polling of petrol car drivers by YouGov for the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU) has found a \u2018poor\u2019 level of knowledge of electric cars [1].<\/p>\n
When asked if ten separate statements about EVs were true or false, more than half (57%) of petrol\/diesel cars drivers got just 2 or less out of ten correct, with 90% scoring just five or less out of ten. Around a quarter (23%) got none correct.<\/p>\n
This is affecting drivers\u2019 car choices, with people displaying a poor understanding of EVs being less likely to want their next car to be an EV. Drivers who scored two or less out of 10 were 11 times less likely to want their next car to be an EV than those who scored eight or more out of 10.<\/p>\n
A Lords committee published a report on electric vehicles earlier in the year in which it expressed concern about a \u201cconcerted campaign of misinformation\u201d about EVs. This polling illustrates the impact of this misinformation, confusing people about the realities of EV ownership and dissuading them from making the shift to cleaner and cheaper electric driving.<\/p>\n
Colin Walker, Head of Transport at ECIU, said<\/strong>: \u201cPoll after poll has found EV drivers love their cars and simply wouldn\u2019t go back to petrol. But all the myths being pedaled about EVs are misleading some petrol car drivers who now have a really poor knowledge of electric cars. For example they don\u2019t realise that a petrol car costs a lot more to own and run over its lifetime than an electric car \u2013 a \u2018petrol premium\u2019 that can leave them hundreds of pounds out of pocket every year. The constant stream of EV misinformation is clearly causing confusion, and holding many of the UK\u2019s drivers back from making the switch to cleaner and cheaper electric driving.<\/p>\n \u201cThe previous government\u2019s Zero Emission Vehicle Mandate is increasing competition between manufacturers, bringing down upfront costs and will start to feed the second-hand market where most of us buy our cars. Second-hand EVs are already at price parity with petrol cars, but are so much cheaper to run, so the policy is set to bring down the costs of motoring for ordinary families.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat petrol drivers have clocked is that running EVs on British renewables will improve the UK\u2019s energy security as we reduce our dependence on imports of foreign oil and 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.\u201d<\/p>\n Quentin Willson, founder of FairCharge, said:<\/strong> “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.<\/p>\n \u201cIronically, 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\u2019s often years old.<\/p>\n \u201cWe know that for some, EVs will never fit into their belief systems, but that shouldn\u2019t 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.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n James Court, CEO of EVA England, said: <\/strong>\u201cOur daily conversations with EV drivers, backed up by surveys, tell a constant story \u2013 that the vast majority of EV drivers are delighted with their cars, and would never go back to petrol or diesel. \u202fThat\u2019s because electric driving is cheap, clean and fun. What\u2019s 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\u2019s drivers have developed negative views about EVs that have no basis in reality.<\/p>\n \u201cWe 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 chose to make the move to electric driving and won\u2019t look back\u201d.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n 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:<\/p>\n Nearly two-thirds (62%) of petrol drivers believe it\u2019s 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 \u00a3700 a year in running costs, compared to an equivalent electric car.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n More than half (59%) of petrol drivers thought the UK\u2019s electricity grid \u201cwill not be able to cope\u201d with the UK\u2019s shift to EVs, whereas only one in five (20%) correctly identified this statement as false. The National Grid has explicitly labelled this a \u2018myth\u2019 and is clear that the power system will be able to cope with millions more EVs in the UK.<\/p>\n 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\u2019s roads by 2030. [7] 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\u2019s energy independence.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n More petrol drivers (39%) correctly disagreed with the statement that EVs pose a threat to the structural integrity of the UK\u2019s car parks than incorrectly agreed with it (33%).<\/p>\n
\nMore drivers (35%) incorrectly believed that an EV\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n