Guest Blog: Emma Rix, Creative Bloom Rocks
As with a lot of things in life, the electric car industry has a few myths floating around. From how green they are to how long a single charge lasts for, it seems every man and his dog has had their say on EVs in recent years.
But not everything you read is right. So, in this blog, we aim to shed light on one of the automotive’s hottest topics and finally pick out fact from fiction.
Myth: EVs aren’t great for long journeys
This is probably one of the most common EV myths around. The truth is, pure electric vehicles can usually drive up to 190 miles when fully charged and there are many EVs that go way beyond this. Not to mention the fact that there’s plenty of public charging stations all around the UK, meaning you can top-up the car battery whenever you need.
Recent figures also show that 68% of the journeys we make every year are under five miles. But don’t worry if you want to travel further, as you can – whether you’re doing 100 miles or 100,000 miles.
Myth: You’ll struggle to find a public charge point
This might have been the case a few years ago but now, practically every town centre has ev charging stations – with places like shopping centres, hotels, service stations and even personal property installing them.
In fact, there’s over 20,000 public charging stations between Jersey and the Shetland Islands. Zap-Map makes it even easier for you to find charging points and check out their availability and reviews too.
Myth: The grid can’t keep up with increasing EV drivers
The National Grid itself has said that if everyone switched to electric vehicles (EVs) overnight, there would only be a 10% increase in peak demand – which can comfortably be dealt with.
Even though, as a society, we may be using more electricity in our day-to-day lives, our machines have become more energy-efficient, therefore reducing the demand. Electrical demand is actually 16% less compared to 18 years ago.
Myth: EV batteries can’t be recycled
You may have seen a few articles online that state the batteries (often a lithium ion battery) used in EVs either can’t be recycled or are very difficult to recycle and end up in landfills. This just isn’t true.
These battery packs can either be recycled at certain centres in Europe or can be removed and used elsewhere around the home. For example, some companies remove the battery from the vehicle shell and repurpose it to be used for solar energy. Here, the battery can store electricity generated which helps to keep your electricity costs down. Currently, the UK government is working on sustainable battery recycling chains.
New regulations proposed by the European Commission state that by 2027, electric vehicle batteries will have to be accompanied by a declaration on the proportion of recycled cobalt, lead, lithium and nickel in each battery model and batch per manufacturing plant.
Myth: Electric cars aren’t as quick as normal motors
While this depends on the exact make and model of the vehicle, most electric cars are actually quicker compared to petrol or diesel cars. This is because the transition from stationary to speed is almost instant when a driver presses down on the accelerator. The Tesla Model S even reached 0-60 mph in 2.5 seconds.
Myth: Electric cars aren’t that green
The easiest way to determine how green an electric car is, is to calculate the emissions from extracting and refining the fuel, transporting the fuel to the station and what happens when the fuel is used. A 2017 UK Government study found that petrol vehicles produced the highest carbon dioxide emissions at 211g per km. Following that, it was diesel vehicles with 179g and electric vehicles came in last, producing just 73g of carbon dioxide emissions for every kilometre.
So, before you go believing the next thing you read, why not do a little research into the facts?
Photograph credits Pratik Gupta, Michael Marais, CHUTTERSNAP on Unsplash
This is a very superficial article and far from 100% of the truth.
The charging distribution issue is no different to the early days of cars. There was no network of petrol stations then. The car’s attractiveness was its broad based appeal which drove down prices and drove up infrastructure, and delivered personal freedom of movement. The real problems in the UK will be cost and winter range. The first is more likely to push car ownership down. The latter is realistically half of the summer range. As yet, neither has a solution.
Consider that heavy load carriers may have to go Hydrogen. Are we really going to have two fuel networks on the same transport routes: electric chargers; and Hydrogen, however it is transported? As with the charging distribution issue, where there is choice, and th potential for choice, the outcome remains uncertain. Only the wealthier will be prepared to commit if the life of the asset is limited to a few years.
I’m yet to be convinced, and I’m one of the “not wealthy” camp. I’ll cling on to my Euro 6 Petrol car as long as practicable. Neither of my kids has a car. Perhaps that’s the way forward.
I researched this question for myself and agree with the key points in this article. The key insight for me was to understand why an EV is greener than an ICE even if the marginal kWh for charging come from natural gas. If we switch energy demand from petrol to electricity, as this blog shows, the additional electricity will come from gas.
So you could argue that we’re comparing burning gas in a power station to burning petrol in a car. Why should the EV be greener? The key reason is to do with the relative efficiency of electricity and ICEs.
In the electric supply chain, there are losses arising in natural gas extraction and processing, in the steam turbines that generate electricity, in the transmission of electricity from power station to wall socket, and in the charging of batteries. These losses are pretty significant, and are perhaps 50% of the potential kWh of the natural gas. However the electric motor in the car is highly efficient and so the overall efficiency of the electric car is perhaps in the order of 40%.
There are losses in the refining and distribution of petrol, but these are much lower than for electricity- which is why petrol, before taxes, is so much cheaper than electricity per kWh. But ICE engines are hugely inefficient and so the overall efficiency of an ICE car is only about 25%.
The case for EVs is breakeven, roughly, when the marginal electron comes from coal, as it does in Germany . It’s unassailable when the marginal electron comes from renewables, as it will on a growing proportion of days in future.
And the emissions from EVs occur at power stations, while for ICEs they occur in the street outside your house.