One in 25 ill-informed Brits believe you cannot charge an electric vehicle in the rain, according to new research.
And with social media (34%) and the pub (17%) cited as the top two places where misinformation was being spread about EVs, it's perhaps no surprise that 74% of us admit their knowledge of EVs is shaky.
The most prevalent myths and rumours about the cost and reliability of electric vehicles have been revealed, with hearsay about practicality and cost coming out on top.
In fact, almost half (42%) feel they know more about interest rates and over a third (31%) about mortgages.
And with 4% reckoning you can’t charge an EV in the rain, it’s clear that public knowledge around the topic is proving cloudy this Christmas.
In terms of practicality, over a third (35%) of Brits believe the battery needs to be changed every two years or less and more than one in ten (15%) feel EVs are more susceptible to breaking down.
Phil Hall at heycar, the automotive marketplace who commissioned the research, said: “There’s still a huge amount of inaccurate information floating around about EV ownership, and concerns around reliability are a prime example.
“Most manufacturers provide a minimum 8 year/100,000-mile warranty on batteries - that’s longer than most combustion engine warranties. And compared to a petrol or diesel engine, there’s significantly fewer moving parts on an EV, meaning there’s much less chance of something breaking or needing to be replaced.”
The poll of 2000 drivers by heycar delved deeper into common misconceptions and found that over a third (35%) were unsure how long you could drive for on one charge and over one in ten (11%) believing that EVs still only last a couple of hours from one charge.
Speculation around costs is also understandably a key issue, with 80% citing the cost of purchase as a concern.
However, the general uncertainty of how much an EV costs has been revealed with just 3% unaware that they could buy a used EV for as little as £6,000.
Rumours around running costs are also proving stubborn as cost parity improves, with half (50%) believing that they are more expensive to run when in reality there are big savings to be made.
heycar has launched a handy online guide to dispel some of the most prevalent myths about EVs. To find out additional information, visit the heycar EV Myth-Buster Guide here.
To help sort the EV facts from fiction, visit heycar’s EV Myth-Busting Guide here
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