Five myths about electric cars

Electric cars have evolved a great deal in recent years. However, they are still surrounded by a halo of myths that harm them, so today we are going to debunk them

Electric vehicles have evolved enormously in recent years, so they have gone from being mere projects we saw as very distant to becoming part of our everyday life.

Despite this, there is still a lot of misinformation about this alternative, and we end up trusting those myths that have so little foundation. You have surely heard at some point that “electric cars pollute the same as a petrol one” or that “an electric car catches fire very easily”.

Well then, today we are going to bring you five myths about electric cars typical of the bar counter or of the most experienced brothers-in-law in the art of false rumour. Without further ado, let’s set them out and, with the help of a giant like Volkswagen, debunk them:

We debunk five myths about electric cars

“Electric cars pollute just the same”

This is one of the central pillars of the arguments of the most sceptical about electric vehicles. However, it has no foundation whatsoever, because zero-emission vehicles are more respectful of the environment and the climate than diesel, petrol and even hybrids.

One of the reasons that used to come up was that the emissions resulting from battery production were often too high, something we explained in our feature on how much CO2 an electric car emits over its entire life.

However, according to a new study carried out by the same Swedish company that produced the first results – the alarming ones – battery production emissions are half of what was previously assumed. The reason is that brands are working hard so that the energy needed to develop their cells comes from renewable sources, so that their manufacture becomes a completely clean cycle.

“Buying an electric car is too expensive”

We have all internalised that buying an electric vehicle costs considerably more than doing the same with a combustion equivalent. In fact, we cannot deny you are right on this point, since we already made a price comparison pitting the Opel Corsa e against its petrol and diesel siblings.

This trend is changing, and so we now have affordable electrics such as the Seat Mii electric that we tested a few months ago. However, this has only just begun, because Volkswagen wants to make a splash in this respect with its ID.3.

The price of the most basic Volkswagen ID.3 in Germany is 30,000 euros and, with the 6,570 euro aid from its government, it drops to an interesting 23,430 euros. Therefore, it is cheaper than the new Volkswagen Golf with the 1.5 TSI petrol engine (26,640 EUROS) or with the 2.0 TDI diesel option (28,105 euros).
“Batteries deteriorate too quickly”
While we wait for

solid-state batteries

to enter service, we still have to rely on lithium-ion ones. In principle, these are designed so that for 8 years or 160,000 kilometres, they deteriorate by 30% at most.

Therefore, during the first eight years, their deterioration will not be very significant. We will indeed have to take this process into account if we are going to buy a used electric car, but this is nothing new, since combustion engines also end up losing performance over the years.
“Electric cars are only good for short distances”
As with the myth that

electric vehicles are too expensive

, this claim made perfect sense a few years ago. It is true that the first generation of electric vehicles had models with a range suitable only for urban journeys.

However, over time these have developed and their range has evolved considerably, so you should not miss our feature on the 5 electric cars with the longest range of 2020. As a preview, we can tell you that the Lightyear One already achieves 725 kilometres on the WLTP cycle, more than many cars with a combustion engine.
“Electric vehicles catch fire easily”
As we said before, this is one of the main topics of gossip among the most “in the know” on the subject. Undoubtedly, news such as that of a

Jaguar I-Pace that caught fire for no reason in the Netherlands

or that a n Tesla Model S exploded in a car park in China does not give them good publicity.

However, the truth is that electric vehicles catch fire with the same frequency as conventional ones, that is, a very low frequency. The Volkswagen ID.3 will reduce this risk even further, since in the event of an accident, it immediately cuts off the flow of energy to prevent accidental fires.