There are a lot of myths and misunderstandings around Electric Vehicles (EVs) in the UK. We’ve made a list of some of these covering concerns about range, charging infrastructure, running costs, and safety. Some are due to now out of date problems with earlier technologies and have become the accepted truth. In the text of this blog we try to address these with some facts and include references to sources and also added some points from our own experience of owning an EV for about a year.
We hope that by debunking these myths, individuals can make more informed decisions about transitioning to electric vehicles and the benefits they offer for both personal and environmental reasons.
1. Charging Infrastructure, Range and Long Journeys:
Myth: EVs can’t travel far enough for long journeys.
Reality: Modern EVs have significantly increased ranges, with many models offering over 250 miles on a single charge (range reduces in cold weather as battery performance drops). The UK’s charging infrastructure is also expanding, making long journeys easier with readily available charging stations.
The Department of Transport research shows that 99% of car journeys are under 100 miles, easily covered by a single EV charge.
Personal View: “Range Anxiety” was certainly something that worried us when we first got our EV and our first experience wasn’t positive. However, we’ve had no issues since including on a road trip around Ireland! I think that there are plenty of online sources of information that help locate EV charging stations and with a bit of modest planning no trip is daunting anymore. On a long journey we tend to find that we need a break at the same time that we need to charge the car.
Myth: There aren’t enough EV charging options.
Reality: While more charging stations are needed, the UK’s public charging infrastructure is growing rapidly. Analysis by Zapmap shows public charge points have grown from 28,460 at the end of 2021 to 53,865 at the end of 2023 and more than 73,000 by the end of 2024. Between April 2024 and April 2025 the public network has grown by 30%.
The latest ZapMap Survey reports that 80% of EV drivers charge at home, alleviating some of the public charging demand.
If you need an EV charger installing then a good place to start is the government list of approved home charging installers. Some energy companies and EV car dealerships can also arrange the install.
Personal View: We mostly charge at home (see Costs below). Charging on a longer journey is more expensive but about equivalent to the price we paid for our petrol car. There are a lot of apps and information available for charging away from home that provide live information on availability etc:
- Motorway charging infrastructure is mainly provided by GridServe
- More local charging availability can be found Octopus Electroverse, Podpoint, Zapmap and many, many more!
- There are even maps covering Ireland (ESB) and the whole of Europe (including UK) (Electromaps).
Myth: The electricity grid won’t be able to handle the increase in EVs
Reality: There are two aspects to this: (1) will there be enough electricity be available to charge EVs and (2) do the electricity grid’s wires have enough capacity for charging EVs?
To address the first point a lot of focus is on using technology to balance the load on the grid out across the day to better match suppy and demand.
As for the second it is probably useful to be aware that the highest peak electricity demand in the UK in recent years was 62GW in 2002. Since then, improvements in energy efficiency mean the nation’s peak demand has fallen by roughly 16%.
Personal View: Our home charger uses technology to work out when to charge our car based on knowing when we need the battery to be charged by, the amount needed and the 1/2 hour periods where the electricity supply is the highest.
As long as the transition is managed correctly and happens at the right pace this should be possible.
2. Costs:
Myth: EVs are more expensive to run than petrol or diesel cars.
Reality: While the initial purchase price of an EV can be higher, their running costs (electricity vs. petrol or diesel fuel) are typically lower. Department for Transport (DoT) information shows that charging a medium-sized electric car at home can cost around half the price of filling up an equivalent petrol vehicle. As of January 2024 charging at home costs around 8p per mile while a diesel or petrol vehicle can cost around 13p to 17p per mile to fuel.
On average, Zapmap charging price index data shows that the cost of charging an EV on the public network is roughly equivalent to fuelling an equivalent petrol car.
As well as charging your car there are the annual maintenance costs. Analysis of Book My Garage and RAC service data shows that an EV car service costs less than a petrol/diesel or hybrid car. They found that the average cost of an EV car service was £103, for a petrol car £151, a hybrid car £159 and a diesel car £163. The reason servicing is cheaper is that it requires less labour and as the engines are simpler with less moving parts to go wrong!
Personal View: Our experience of the costs of charging at home are much better than the DoT state. We use a home charger most of the time and with an Octopus EV tariff running overnight we pay only 7p/kWh. To completely charge our 58kWh EV car costs £4.06 and will provide a range of over 200 miles that is the equivalent of 2p per mile.
Our first service at a garage in Garforth was £100.
Myth: EVs are more expensive to purchase than petrol or diesel cars.
Reality: There is some truth in this “myth”. Autotrader Insight analysis shows that new electric cars are 23% more expensive, on average, than an equivalent petrol car. This price gap is decreasing with battery costs reducing and continued innovation, some forecasts predict that some EVs could be around the same price to purchase as a petrol or diesel car by the end of the 2020s.
Of course, not everyone buys new, indeed, most drivers in the UK (around 80%) will buy their cars on the used market where EVs are now similar in price to their petrol and diesel equivalents.
Personal View: The price of EVs was a definate barrier to our purchase of an EV. We got a good deal on a used EV that was a slightly better spec and was about the same price as our old petrol car.
3. Battery Life, Replacement and Recycling:
Myth: EV batteries have a short lifespan and need replacing after only a few years.
Reality: EV batteries are designed to last for many years and miles, with some manufacturers offering warranties of up to 8 years or 100,000 miles. There is no evidence to suggest that EVs have shorter lifespans than their fuel counterparts.
Personal View: As we have only had our EV for about a year its hard to comment on this from personal experience, however, I have heard of anecdotal evidence that some of the early EVs still have batteries with limited levels of degradation.
Myth: EV batteries can’t be recyled.
Reality: EV batteries can be re-used first within stationary storage applications for the home or to support the national grid and then recycled to extract copper, aluminium, cobalt and lithium etc.
Personal View: Not being able to recycle an EV’s battery would be a concern as it would drive up demand for the mining and processing of lithium and other metal ores with the environmental impact that brings. Charpmap have written an interesting blog on this subject and is worth the 6 minute read!
4. Environmental Impact:
Myth: EVs are not environmentally friendly and they pollute more than petrol or diesel cars.
Reality: EVs produce zero tailpipe emissions. However, the manufacturing of EVs involve emissions and there are emissions involved in generating the electricity used to charge their batteries. The Department for Transport reports that EVs emit 67% less carbon emissions compared to petrol or diesel cars over their lifetime.
The vast majority of EV emissions come from their energy-intensive battery manufacturing process. Further environmental damage is caused by the mining of precious metals used in EV batteries. There are efforts underway to produce EV cars in carbon-neutral ways and new technology is beginning to improve the efficiency of batteries, making them lighter and less resource-intensive.
As the national grid decarbonises the electricity used to charge EV batteries will become cleaner. Since 2021, 50% of Britain’s electricity mix came from green sources. You can see how this has improved year-on-year with our link to MyGridGB.
Energy systems are also becoming more flexible to optimise for cleaner energy whenever it’s available. Online tools and apps, new legislation and smart energy tariffs are all helping us manage our electricity use. The smart charger in our home can start or pause our EV charging to ensure it’s using the cleanest and cheapest power.
Personal View: Whilst EVs are better than petrol or diesel cars, EVs still pollute the air with debris from tyre and brake wear, and they are only as low-carbon as the national grid is. Many people drive for journeys which could easily be done by other means. Not using a car is the better environmental option.
5. Safety:
Myth: EVs are more likely to catch fire than petrol or diesel cars.
Reality: EVs are actually less prone to fires than petrol or diesel cars, with data suggesting that EVs are significantly less likely to catch fire. Data from the UK is limited.
Data from the National Transportation Safety Board in the US indicates that there are 25 fires per 100,000 EVs sold, whereas, the rate for petrol and diesel vehicles is significantly higher at 1,530 fires per 100,000 vehicles i.e. 61x higher.
An Office for Zero Emission Vehicles report in 2023 concludes that “Overall, the data currently available suggests that EVs do not present an increased likelihood of fire compared to petrol or diesel equivalents.”
Personal View: I’ve had no experience of this, but trust the data!