![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/outback-charging.jpg\")
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Some people have strange ideas about electric cars.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n
I know because they’ve been kind enough to share them.\u00a0 I’ve collected so many I’ve made a Top 10 list. \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\r\n
Thanks to myths spread by people with inadequate regard for the truth, many are unaware of EV advantages.\u00a0 Myths are spread in dark corners of the internet and under bright lights by people working to be reelected.\u00a0 One example is Scott Morrison:<\/p>\r\n
![\"Scott](\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/evmyth_morrison.png\")
This is what our Prime Minister claimed a couple of years ago. He’s changed his mind since then, but don’t worry. I’m sure his change of heart is sincere. Just as I am, at all times, 100% sincere in everything I write.<\/p><\/div>\r\n
Ending the weekend is not among my Top 10 myths because it was too stupid to make the cut.\u00a0 Many myths that did make the list contain a core of truth but either wildly exaggerate problems or ignore improvements made in the 11 years since the first modern, mass-produced electric car — the Nissan Leaf<\/a> — was launched.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n But other myths contain only a core of crazy. If those responsible ever got behind the wheel of an electric car, they’d head straight for Crazytown at ludicrous speed.<\/p>\r\n Electric cars<\/a> aren’t perfect but are far better than some would have you believe.\u00a0 Despite all the myth-information, the days of conventional cars are numbered<\/a>.\u00a0 Petrol and diesel vehicles are so bad I die a little inside whenever one drives by.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n This is because their exhaust fumes are toxic.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n Traditional Top 10 lists start at 10 and work their way down to 1.\u00a0 Well, screw that.\u00a0 I have no idea if information wants to be free, but it sure as hell wants to be organized.\u00a0 Otherwise, it’s merely data. \u00a0I will present the myths in the order that makes the most sense for the reader, which means more important points first. But don’t worry, I’ll save a big one to finish on.<\/p>\r\n Electric cars aren’t cheap.\u00a0 Especially not in Australia.\u00a0 So when I call out this myth, many people are going to call me crazy.\u00a0 There is a strong core of truth to this belief, and it’s the hardest for me to defend as being a myth — but I’m doing it anyway.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n Right now1<\/a><\/sup> the lowest cost petrol-powered car is around $17,000 while the cheapest electric car is around $45,000.\u00a0 So, if you are looking to buy a new car for under $30,000, you’ll have to pay 50% to 265% more to go electric.\u00a0 That’s a huge premium that definitely makes me look like a nutter.<\/p>\r\n The MG ZS EV is a nose charger with a real-world range of (hopefully) over 200 km. It will set you back around $45,000 on the road.<\/p><\/div>\r\n But the premium disappears — or mostly disappears — when EVs are compared to conventional vehicles of around the same price.\u00a0 This evaluation depends on personal preferences and driving habits so there’s room for disagreement, but I consider a Tesla Model 3 — which you can now get for around $62,000 — to be better than any petrol or diesel car of similar price.\u00a0 This is also true of the more expensive Tesla Model S.\u00a0 This is because they offer better performance and a quieter ride than the similarly priced competition.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\r\n Because Australians spend an average of around $41,000<\/a> when buying a new car, those that spends more than this will generally either pay no premium or only a small one to get an EV.\u00a0 An electric car can save over $2,000 a year<\/a> when driven the average annual distance2<\/a><\/sup> The resale value of conventional cars is likely to drop dramatically over the next few years. Even if a sizable premium has to be paid, an electric vehicle could still be well worth it.<\/p>\r\n This estimates the difference in running costs between the average Australian passenger car and EVs when driven the average annual distance for the 2018\/19 financial year of 12,600 km and a petrol price of $1.50 a litre. It varies by state and charging habits, but households with rooftop solar will often save over $2,000 a year.<\/p><\/div>\r\n Fortunately, the current situation where lower-cost electric cars aren’t available won’t continue. \u00a0Manufacturers can supply them at a price similar to the cheapest conventional cars.\u00a0 For example, this is the Wuling Hongguang Mini EV<\/a>:<\/p>\r\n Note: That lady is tiny. (Images: The Driven)<\/p><\/div>\r\n It has sold over 400,000 units in China.\u00a0 It seats four people, has a top speed of 100 km\/h, and sells for around $7,000 after receiving little or no subsidy.\u00a0 Its real-world range is only around 140 km, but a version with over 300 km of official range<\/a> is in the works.\u00a0 That should have over 200 km of range in real life.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\r\n Wuling Hongguang will never sell this car in Australia.\u00a0 It needs improvements in power, quality, and ability to handle the average Australian arse size.\u00a0 But it’s not hard to imagine an improved version being sold here for around $17,000 in a few years — the same as the cheapest petrol-powered cars.<\/p>\r\n The idea that driving electric cars results in greenhouse gas emissions equal to or greater than conventional cars is crazy talk.\u00a0 There’s no core of truth to this myth.\u00a0 The best that EV sceptics can claim is an electric car charged from a grid that’s heavily dependent on old coal power stations may be worse than a similar-sized fuel-efficient hybrid or a considerably smaller conventional car.\u00a0 Even this won’t last as grids are becoming cleaner.<\/p>\r\n It’s not difficult to determine the approximate emissions of an EV charged from Australia’s dirtiest grid…<\/p>\r\n If we do a similar calculation for a petrol-powered vehicle…<\/p>\r\n So even when charged from Australia’s dirtiest grid, a typical electric car will only result in 52% the CO2 emissions of the average Australian petrol passenger car.\u00a0 If the car is charged 50% from rooftop solar4<\/a><\/sup> it drops to only 26% the emissions of the average car and less than any hybrid vehicle on the market.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n If we use the average grid emissions for Australia of around 690 grams of CO2 per kilowatt-hour5<\/a><\/sup> it comes to 104 grams.\u00a0 This is more than the 90 grams per km, which is around the best a fuel-efficient hybrid can do in real-world driving, but an EV would only have to be charged 15% from rooftop solar panels to do better.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n This graph shows the grams of CO2 emissions that result from driving 1 km. The Australian average of 690 grams of CO2 per kilowatt-hour supplied for grid generation was used.<\/p><\/div>\r\n Given the amount of additional solar panels people are installing on roofs in preparation for EVs, the average electric vehicle will have no problem beating even the best hybrid on emissions per km.\u00a0 Also, because I’m expecting coal power stations to be closed at an accelerated rate, I’m certain the typical electric vehicle bought today and only charged with grid electricity of average filthiness will have lower emissions per km over its lifetime than the best currently available hybrid.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n I’ve shown EVs don’t emit more greenhouse gases than conventional cars per km driven.\u00a0 But there’s another myth saying the manufacture of EV battery packs releases more emissions than driving saves.\u00a0 While the production of the battery pack is emission-intensive, it doesn’t come close to outweighing electric vehicles’ emission benefits.<\/p>\r\n A recent estimate<\/a> put emissions from EV battery pack manufacture at the equivalent of 75 kg of CO2 per kilowatt-hour.\u00a0 This is terrible.\u00a0 If true, it means producing a 50 kilowatt-hour battery pack results in greenhouse gas emissions equal to 3.75 tonnes of CO2.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n But an EV charged entirely from the Australian grid will, on average, result in around 182 grams less emissions per km than a conventional car.\u00a0 This means it would only have to be driven around 20,600 km to pay off the emissions debt from its battery pack.\u00a0 As the average Australian car is driven 12,600 km a year, that’s around 20 months.\u00a0 If the electric vehicle was instead 50% charged from rooftop solar, it would only have to be driven around 16,000 km — around 15 months of average driving.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n But emissions from producing the battery pack don’t tell the full story because manufacturing the rest of an EV results in less emissions than for a conventional car.\u00a0 An electric motor is much simpler and lighter than an internal combustion engine, and EVs don’t require fuel tanks and exhaust systems.\u00a0 This means manufacturing emissions aren’t as bad as just looking at the battery pack suggests.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n In their 2020 Impact Statement<\/a>, Tesla says the their Model 3 with a 50 kilowatt-hour battery pack must drive only 8,600 km to compensate for the additional emissions compared to the manufacture of a comparable conventional car.\u00a0 That distance is eight months average driving in Australia, but I’d expect it to be less as our grid emits more CO2 per kilowatt-hour than almost every other country.<\/p>\r\n Poland may be the only developed country with higher grid emissions per kilowatt-hour than Australia.<\/p><\/div>\r\n Emissions per kilowatt-hour of battery capacity produced are falling and will continue to fall.\u00a0 This is because manufacturers are always seeking ways to reduce energy and material inputs to cut costs, while energy is becoming cleaner.\u00a0 Tesla claims they will decrease the energy required to produce their new 4680 battery cells<\/a> by over 70%.\u00a0 While Tesla is a company that often exaggerates, I’m certain emissions from battery manufacture will fall in the future.\u00a0 I wouldn’t be surprised if they were already significantly under 75 kg of CO2 per kilowatt-hour.<\/p>\r\n Another myth is EV batteries deteriorate rapidly.\u00a0 Some say they’ll be knackered after only five years, while others very confidently make the very vague claim they’ll only last “a few” years.\u00a0 This view is clearly not based in reality, as all major electric vehicle manufacturers provide far longer battery warranties:<\/p>\r\n You can expect an EV battery pack to last at least as long as its warranty.\u00a0 If it doesn’t, you’re entitled to a repair, replacement, or refund.\u00a0 Unless, of course, the company’s no longer around because it went bankrupt from the cost of replacing lousy batteries.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n Just as you can expect the engine in a conventional car to last well beyond its warranty period, you can expect an electric vehicle battery pack to do so as well.6<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0 If we assume a battery will last 160,000 km — the lowest km distance in the warranties above — that’s nearly 13 years of average Australian driving.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n But the typical battery pack may last longer than that with only moderate loss of capacity.\u00a0 Here’s a graph showing the capacity of Tesla S and X EVs averaging around 89% capacity after 320,000 km:<\/p>\r\n This graph is from page 22 of Tesla’s 2020 Impact Report<\/a>. (I added the red comic sans myself.)<\/p><\/div>\r\n This represents 25 years of driving for the average Australian passenger car, which is a lot longer than Aussie cars usually last.7<\/a><\/sup>, so it definitely looks as though batteries can last a long time. \u00a0<\/p>\r\n But because Tesla likes to spin things as positively as they can, there are a couple of things the graph above doesn’t point out that may result in the average EV battery pack suffering greater capacity loss:<\/p>\r\n While things may not be as good for the average EV as the Tesla graph suggests, if battery capacity loss is three times the rate shown, it will still have two-thirds capacity after 25 years.\u00a0 While any loss isn’t good, it’s nowhere near as bad as the myth would have you believe.\u00a0 I’m not saying you can count on an EV battery lasting 25 years.\u00a0 Modern battery packs haven’t been around long enough for us to know.\u00a0 But I’m confident most electric vehicles sold today will still have their original battery in 15 years and they’ll have only suffered moderate capacity loss.<\/p>\r\n One myth is EVs have low or even no trade-in value.\u00a0 There is some truth to this.\u00a0 Electric cars will continue to improve, which will push down the trade-in value of an EV you buy today.\u00a0 But it’s a stupid myth because if electric cars continue to improve, it’s going to push down the trade-in value of internal combustion engine vehicles even further.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n This myth likely got started for the following reasons:<\/p>\r\n But these issues mostly no longer apply.\u00a0 While new models of EVs will continue to improve and lower-cost models will appear, and this will hurt the trade-in values of today’s EVs, internal combustion engines will be hurt even more.\u00a0 This is because electric vehicles are — for the majority of people — a superior product.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n Once EVs have demonstrated they break down far less often thanks to electric motors being so simple, have much lower running costs, and their batteries can last long term, demand for second hand EVs is likely to be far stronger than for conventional cars.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n Petrol and diesel cars are also a risky proposition from an environmental regulation point of view.\u00a0 While the oil price may fall as EVs become increasingly common, global warming isn’t shaping up to be something we don’t need to worry about.\u00a0 This means conventional car drivers may end up paying for their carbon emissions.\u00a0 If it costs $80 to remove a tonne of CO2 from the atmosphere and sequester it long term — a very low estimate — that will add around 21 cents to the price of a litre of petrol.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n This electric vehicle is on sale for 3% less than the price of a new one, so clearly, at least one person thinks they retain value.<\/p><\/div>\r\n One myth is EV batteries can’t be recycled.\u00a0 But they can and will be because there’s valuable stuff inside.\u00a0 The main material is stainless steel and, by weight, steel is the most recycled metal in the world.\u00a0 They also contain copper, which is in such strong demand by recyclers my entrepreneurial friends, Pigdog and Spider, accept it in lieu of cash in their business transactions.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n Other elements such as lithium, cobalt, and manganese require specialized equipment to recover, but they can be collected by recyclers as mixed metal dust that’s shipped off<\/a> for further processing.\u00a0 Alternatively, battery packs can be returned to their manufacturer to be directly recycled into new ones.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n The current per kg costs of metals in a battery are:<\/p>\r\n Lithium has quadrupled from its price in 2020 and is at a record high.\u00a0 This is expected to cause a shortage of at least some brands of home batteries<\/a> in Australia over the next few months and may affect the supply of EVs. Happily, it will also increase the focus on recycling.\u00a0 The price spike won’t last, but improvements in recycling will.<\/p>\r\n While it’s technically possible to reuse everything in a battery pack, it’s not economical for some materials such as carbon — which is very cheap.\u00a0 Some people will be upset that not everything is recycled, but it makes no sense if the money would do more good elsewhere, such as solar energy and wind generation. \u00a0<\/p>\r\n One odd myth is EVs require petrol and diesel vehicles to be scrapped and so waste resources.\u00a0 I’d agree if conventional cars in good working order were being scrapped, but this isn’t what happens.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n When you decide to buy a new electric car rather than a new conventional one, your decision results in one more EV being made than would otherwise occur and one less internal combustion engine car being made.\u00a0 Buying a new electric vehicle doesn’t result in a new conventional car being hauled off to be scrapped.\u00a0 It displaces them, so they never exist in the first place and never consume resources.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n This myth may have been fed by the “Cash for Clunkers<\/a>” program in the US.\u00a0 This was a subsidy for automakers wrapped in the skin of a dead environmentalist as a disguise.\u00a0 This scheme ended 11 years ago and resulted in the sale of very few EVs, as not many were available in 2009.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n I know no country currently paying people to scrap conventional cars and replace them with EVs.\u00a0 If you trade in your still running six-year-old car for an electric vehicle, the car yard isn’t going to send it to a wrecker.\u00a0 They’re going to sell it for as much money as they can get.<\/p>\r\n If demand for conventional cars falls so far ones currently considered roadworthy end up being scrapped, that’s not a waste of resources.\u00a0 That’s freeing up resources, such as steel, trapped inside a vehicle that’s obsolete thanks to technology, making EVs clearly superior in terms of quality, running costs, and reliability.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n Related to the previous myth is the odd idea maintaining an old car is better for the environment than buying an EV.\u00a0 This comes in two main flavours:<\/p>\r\n The first point doesn’t make sense.\u00a0 As I showed earlier with myth number three, it doesn’t take long for an EV to make up for the additional emissions that result from its production thanks to lower emissions from each km driven — which can be zero when charged with clean energy.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n Any comparable conventional car will emit more emissions every km, and these extra emissions will occur until it’s replaced with something better, such as an electric vehicle.\u00a0 No benefit ever occurs from keeping a conventional car running unless it benefits your bank balance from not shelling out for a new car.<\/p>\r\n This graph is stupid, not because it assumes there are no CO2 costs for oil and spare parts required to keep an existing conventional car running but because it ignores the grid will become cleaner over time. It’s stupid because if a conventional car is still roadworthy when it’s replaced, it will — in the vast majority of cases — be sold and used rather than scrapped.\u00a0 But even with the assumption, it suffers existence failure if an EV is bought. The conventional car’s cumulative emissions from driving alone are greater after three years than manufacturing and driving an EV.<\/p><\/div>\r\n The second version of this myth is true.\u00a0 There are options providing far more environmental benefit per buck than buying an electric car.\u00a0 For example, buying a large solar system will cut emissions far more than spending the money on an EV, and I heartily recommend this course of action.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n If you do this, you won’t have a new car, so you will be making a sacrifice.\u00a0 You may have a conventional car you can keep operating, but eventually, it will wear out and need to be replaced.\u00a0 As there are likely to be plenty of second-hand electric cars on the market by the time this happens, the sensible thing to do would be to replace it with one of them.<\/p>\r\n So please spend a lot of money on solar power and potentially other better ways of helping the environment before you spend money on an EV, but if you are going to spend a considerable amount of money on a car, then please make sure it’s electric — or at least a fuel-efficient hybrid – if that’s a better match for your driving habits and budget.<\/p>\r\n One myth that never seems to run out of energy is it’s time consuming to charge an EV<\/a>.\u00a0 When this one’s brought up, it always seems to be in the context of a long trip of hundreds of km or more to a remote outback town.\u00a0 Some things these hypotheticals often ignore are:<\/p>\r\n It is true on a long trip, even EVs able to be rapidly charged take considerably longer to “fuel up” than a petrol or diesel vehicle.\u00a0 What makes this a myth is the underappreciated fact most electric vehicle owners spend less time “fueling” than those with conventional cars.\u00a0 This is because normal day-to-day charging takes so little time.<\/p>\r\n When the typical EV owner gets home, they spend under 30 seconds plugging in their car and the next day spend under 30 seconds unplugging it.\u00a0 They may spend less than 5 minutes on this in a typical week, while a service station visit is usually at least 10 minutes.\u00a0 If an EV owner comes out only 5 minutes ahead per week, that totals over 4 hours a year.\u00a0 This could be split into a dozen 20 minute sessions of rapid charging.\u00a0 With a suitable car, this could add over 2,000 km of range.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n But the actual comparison is better than this.\u00a0 This is because a lot of charging time isn’t wasted but is spent peeing, eating, sightseeing, or reducing fatigue until it’s safe to drive again.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n It will depend on driving habits and the type of EV owned, but assuming one that matches the driver’s needs is used, the typical electric vehicle owner should come out ahead on time spent fueling.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n Range anxiety is not a myth.\u00a0 It is something that exists.\u00a0 But a major reason why people have it is they fall for the myth that EVs don’t have enough range for the typical driver.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\r\n There are several EVs available with real-world ranges of over 300 km.\u00a0 This is more than enough to suit the majority of Australians. As mentioned in the previous myth on charging times, the typical electric vehicle owner spends less time charging than a conventional car owner spends putting fuel in the tank.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\r\n It’s possible to buy an EV without enough range to meet your needs, and this will force you to charge at inconvenient times.\u00a0 But it’s also possible to buy a pair of pants that are too small.\u00a0 Simply ‘not buying pants’ to avoid this possibility would be stupid.<\/p>\r\nMy Top 10 EV Myths<\/h2>\r\n
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Myth #1. You Have To Pay A High Premium For EVs<\/h2>\r\n
![\"MG](\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/evmyth_mgzsev.jpg\")
![\"Annual](\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/evmyth_savings_grid_solar.png\")
![\"Wuling](\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/evmyth_mini_ev.jpg\")
Myth #2. EVs Emit More CO2 Than Petrol & Diesel Cars<\/h2>\r\n
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![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/evmyth_grams_co2_per_km.png\")
Myth #3. Emissions From Battery Manufacture Outweigh Any Benefits<\/h2>\r\n
![\"Electric](\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/evmyth_co2_country.png\")
4. Batteries Deteriorate Rapidly<\/h2>\r\n
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![\"Tesla](\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/evmyth_deterioration.png\")
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Myth #5. Electric Vehicles Have No Trade-In Value<\/h2>\r\n
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![\"Tesla](\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/evmyth_sell.jpg\")
Myth #6. EV Batteries Can’t Be Recycled<\/h2>\r\n
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Myth #7. EVs Waste Resources By Causing Old Cars To Be Scrapped<\/h2>\r\n
Myth #8.\u00a0 Maintaining An Old Car Is Better For The Environment Than Buying An EV<\/h2>\r\n
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![\"Cumulative](\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/evmyth_total_emissions.png\")
Myth #9. Charging An EV Is Time Consuming<\/h2>\r\n
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Myth #10.\u00a0 EVs Don’t Have Enough Range — AKA “Range Anxiety”<\/h2>\r\n
![\"Electric](\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/evmyth_ranges.png\")