A brand new survey carried out by YouGov has confirmed that perception in EV myths is holding again adoption, with most petrol automotive drivers scoring only a 2/10 in a quiz about how electrical automobiles work.
The survey was commissioned by the Power and Local weather Intelligence Unit (ECIU), an unbiased nonprofit within the UK.
Performed by YouGov, it requested 1,000 UK petrol/diesel automotive drivers ten questions on electrical automobiles, primarily centered on common items of misinformation that has been pushed by the oil trade and different entities that oppose cleaner, higher automobiles.
The survey discovered that this misinformation is alive and nicely – and significantly alive and nicely amongst drivers who haven’t pushed an EV.
Out of the petrol drivers surveyed, a majority of them, 57%, had been solely in a position to reply 2 out of 10 questions accurately, and 90% acquired lower than half appropriate. There have been loads of “not sure” solutions, so this doesn’t imply they acquired 8 flawed, however that’s nonetheless a fairly excessive failure charge. 23% of petrol drivers acquired zero questions proper.
Whereas we don’t have entry to all the information and questions, listed below are among the questions that ECIU highlighted:
- Practically two-thirds (62%) of petrol drivers consider it’s dearer to personal and run an EV, with solely 14% accurately recognising that EVs are usually cheaper. A report from ECIU discovered that the drivers of the highest 10 promoting petrol automobiles of 2023 can discover themselves paying a petroleum premium of £700 a 12 months in operating prices, in comparison with an equal electrical automotive.
- 41% of petrol drivers incorrectly assume that EVs usually tend to catch fireplace than petrol automobiles, with solely 24% appropriate of their understanding that they’re much less prone to catch fireplace. Proof from EV Fireplace Secure indicated that EVs are greater than 80 occasions much less prone to catch fireplace than petrol or diesel automobiles.
- Greater than half (59%) of petrol drivers thought the UK’s electrical energy grid “won’t be able to manage” with the UK’s shift to EVs, whereas just one in 5 (20%) accurately recognized this assertion as false. The Nationwide Grid has explicitly labelled this a ‘fantasy’ and is obvious that the facility system will be capable of deal with hundreds of thousands extra EVs within the UK.
- 80% of petrol drivers assume the UK just isn’t on the right track to put in the charging infrastructure it wants, regardless of the nation being forward of schedule to hit its goal of 300,000 chargers on the UK’s roads by 2030.
- Extra drivers (35%) incorrectly believed that an EV’s lifetime CO2 emissions are at least these of a petroleum automotive than accurately recognized this assertion as false (32%). An EV being pushed within the UK produces thrice much less lifetime CO2 emissions that an equal petrol or diesel automotive.
Extra EV information = better buy intent
However the level right here just isn’t that non-EV drivers are ignorant. It’s to point out how these falsehoods are affecting EV uptake, which in flip means worse air high quality and worse results of local weather change for everybody on Earth.
Of the drivers who scored the best – 8/10 or extra appropriate solutions – 64.6% of them stated they need their subsequent automotive to be an EV. However of the drivers who scored 2/10 or much less, solely 6.1% wished their subsequent automotive to be an EV. So these with essentially the most correct data had been 11 occasions extra prone to need an EV than those that had fallen sufferer to misinformation.
This exhibits that widespread misinformation is affecting folks’s buying selections, and holding them from shopping for a car that may not solely save them cash on gasoline and upkeep prices, but in addition save all of society from the well being prices of air pollution.
Electrek’s Take
Whereas this survey was carried out within the UK, we’ve seen comparable surveys earlier than through the years, exhibiting that EV misinformation has fairly a big maintain on the populace in numerous international locations.
Sadly, the misinformation talked about right here is sort of persistent as a result of it’s consistently being repeated by highly effective entities which don’t need the established order to vary.
Despite the fact that it’s clear we have to change how transportation works due to the large quantity of air pollution it causes, resulting in poor well being and local weather change, polluting trade would relatively issues preserve going the identical approach they all the time have. So members of the richest and strongest industries on the planet, oil and automotive, are completely comfortable to push all kinds of misinformation with a view to oppose a change that is coming irrespective of what they do.
That’s why websites like ourselves exist – to attempt to demystify electrical automobiles for people who find themselves , to counter this misinformation, and to hopefully carry extra folks into that “high-scoring” class, in order that we will all acquire the person and societal advantages that EV possession can lead to.
So in case you are one in all these petrol automotive drivers – stick round, learn some articles, ask questions within the feedback, head to EV-specific boards on the web, head to EV occasions like Nationwide Drive Electrical Week, or simply attain out to some EV proudly owning pals of yours and ask them what the expertise is like.
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