Electric cars are becoming increasingly popular methods of transport, but a lot of drivers still don’t know much about them. Go Ultra Low, the industry and government campaign to promote electric cars carried out research into what people think of electric cars. The study revealed a range of myths and that the market is even bigger than previously thought.
The survey pointed out that “there is a huge amount of misunderstanding within the British public when it comes to pure electric cars, with many unaware of the benefits around performance, charging and cost.”
“One of the biggest areas of confusion is whether you can put an electric car through a car wash. While this is no issue – just as with a petrol or diesel car – 42% of Brits admit they aren’t sure if this is an option for pure electric car owners. As well as this, half of Brits (52%) think they wouldn’t be able to describe was a pure electric car is (a car powered solely by a battery.”)
Motorists underestimated the benefits of electric cars:
- 47% believe petrol and diesel cars accelerate faster
- 25% believe electric vehicles are more expensive to maintain
- 42% of people aren’t sure if you can put a pure electric car in a car wash
- 52% said they couldn’t describe an EV to someone else
The top five myths around electric cars were debunked.
- Electric cars are quicker than other cars because an electric motor generates power faster than an internal combustion engine.
- An electric car can save you money of up to £650 a year.
- There are plenty of places to charge an electric car, with a total of 16,738 points in the UK.
- Some people believe that there aren’t enough electric cars to choose from. Ultra Low’s research revealed that there’s 17 different types of pure electric car models.
- The myth of electric cars being future technology isn’t true either because a lot of manufacturers have started to make the switch.
Head of Go Ultra Low, Poppy Welch said “there is much confusion and misunderstanding with the British public when it comes to pure electric cars. Over half of those surveyed don’t feel confident describing a pure electric car to another person and many aren’t aware of the many benefits electric cars can bring. Pure electric car drivers benefit from lower running costs, convenient charging and high-performance driving, all while producing no tailpipe emissions and helping to improve local air quality. Dispelling these misconceptions and highlighting these perks is therefore vital if we are to see more motorists make the switch to electric motoring.”
