Electric car myths: busted
Busted myths at a glance
| Myth | True/False |
|---|---|
| Electric cars cost more than petrol cars | Partially true: the initial cost of an electric car is higher, but lower running and maintenance costs mean it will cost less over the course of its lifetime. |
| An EV will leave you stranded | False: you’re no more likely to run out of charge than you are out of petrol if you plan ahead. |
| EVs are as bad for the environment as petrol cars | False: EVs have their own environmental impact (particularly in the manufacture of batteries), but they produce none of the polluting gases that petrol cars do and can be charged from low-carbon and renewable energy sources. |
| EVs are unsafe | False: Electric vehicles must meet the same safety standards as petrol and diesel cars. |
| EV batteries don’t last | False: EV batteries come with warranties of 7-8 years and many go well beyond that. EV batteries can remain usable for well over 10 years. |
| The National Grid can’t cope | False: Despite concerns, EVs are designed to minimise their impact on the grid – for example, most people are incentivised by time-of-use EV tariffs to charge when demand is at its lowest. |
Myth 1: Electric cars will be more expensive than petrol cars
While it’s partially true that buying an electric vehicle may cost more than the equivalent petrol car, the purchase premium is narrowing every year and is expected to reach parity next year. Indeed, in April 2026, Auto Trader reported that, on average, new EV vehicles were now cheaper to buy – with government support – than petrol models. In the second-hand market, 80% of EVs are now cheaper to purchase upfront than their petrol counterparts, according to the February 2025 Cost of Driving Electric Report.
Once purchased, the costs of running and maintaining an electric vehicle are significantly cheaper, particularly when drivers install home chargers to take advantage of competitive time-of-use EV tariffs. Charging a battery (even from empty to full) is much cheaper than filling a tank with petrol, and the lack of an internal combustion engine means that there is much less that can wear down or break in an electric car. According to The Car Expert, EVs are around 29% cheaper to service than petrol cars.
The February 2025 Cost of Driving Electric Report also examined various car ownership scenarios over an extended period, and again found that EVs were cheaper in over 80% of scenarios, with average lifetime savings of £5,850 for those who benefited.
Myth 2: My EV will run out of charge halfway through my journey and leave me stranded
Range anxiety is a common concern for drivers thinking about switching to an EV - the idea that you might not be able to find a public charging point before your battery runs out is an understandable worry. Yet most people rarely make daily long journeys where running out of charge en route is a real concern.
If you have a home charger, you should be able to charge back up to full every night if you need to, plus if you’re making a long journey, you can utilise public charging point top-ups at service stations where you’d almost certainly be stopping for a 20-minute break or so anyway. With over 125,000 public charging points now available in the UK, you should be able to plan any journey without worrying about running out of charge – just like you would with a regular petrol vehicle.
Myth 3: EVs are just as bad for the environment as petrol cars
The main argument made for EVs being as bad for the environment as petrol cars stems from the claim that, once the battery has given up the ghost, it’ll just end up in a landfill somewhere. While there is an environmental impact in the mining of the minerals that make up EV batteries, steps are being taken to reduce dependency on certain minerals including cobalt and nickel. In addition, it’s illegal to simply dump or incinerate an EV battery when it’s exhausted – instead, they should be either repurposed or recycled.
According to government estimates, EVs currently produce around 65% fewer greenhouse gas emissions over their lifetime than the equivalent petrol cars – and that includes any impacts from battery manufacturing. And as the UK shifts increasingly towards renewable electricity sources, that figure will only grow – to an estimated 81% by 2050.
You can further minimise your EV’s carbon footprint by getting your electricity from renewable sources like wind and solar with a suitable tariff or by generating your own renewable electricity at home.
EVs also produce none of the harmful particles emitted by fossil-fuel-powered vehicles, helping ensure cleaner air and a better local environment for all, further helping to offset their environmental costs.
Myth 4: EVs are unsafe
Electric vehicles are no more unsafe than conventional petrol and diesel models. They must meet the same safety standards – this means that every electric vehicle is put through rigorous testing before it leaves the assembly line and precautions are taken to ensure that the electrical parts are safe to use. Many achieve excellent crash-test results, including the Tesla Model Y, which earned a best-in-class five-star safety rating from Euro NCAP in 2025.
There are also many misconceptions about EV safety in terms of charging – for example, people are often worried about electrocution when charging in the rain. In truth, the high-voltage battery and electrical systems are fully sealed and waterproof, so there’s no safety risk of charging in the rain or driving through standing water. Research also suggests that EVs are no more likely to catch fire than petrol or diesel vehicles, although battery fires can prove more challenging for emergency services to tackle.
Safety concerns have been raised about individual vehicles, including reports of electronic door releases failing after Tesla crashes. US regulators have investigated these, but they related to specific design choices around the door release mechanism, not the safety of EVs in general.
As with any car, it’s important you check a model’s independent safety rating and any outstanding recalls before buying.
Myth 5: EV batteries don’t last long
Because phone batteries don’t last long before they start to lose their ability to hold a charge, some people assume EV batteries will be the same and that you’ll need to buy a costly replacement every couple of years.
In fact, most manufacturers offer warranties of up to eight years or a specified mileage – for example, 100,000 miles from Volkswagen or 100,000-150,000 miles from Tesla. And even after the warranty expires, most batteries will still last well beyond eight years.
As batteries lose charge, your car's range decreases. Nevertheless, the government’s Clean Energy Campaign estimates that most batteries retain 80-90% of their capacity after eight years, a claim backed up by independent research.
A 2026 study by Geotab, which covered more than 22,700 EVs, found that EV batteries lost around 2.3% of their capacity (and thus range) per year on average, concluding that batteries still retained 82% of their range after eight years. Other studies suggest even higher figures – UK research examining 8,000 used EVs found that 8-12-year-old batteries retained a median 85% of their original capacity. And a Which? consumer survey of 4,444 EV owners in April 2026 found that the average capacity of a 7-8 year old battery remained 94% of its original range.
While battery replacements can be expensive, most EV owners are unlikely to need one for several years – and if they do, it’ll probably be covered by the manufacturer’s warranty. Even if your battery capacity falls below these figures, that doesn’t make the battery unusable – it just means accepting that your car’s range will continue to drop until you’re able to replace it (or buy a new car).
Myth 6: The National Grid can’t handle the EVs all being plugged in to charge at the same time
The concern about the National Grid comes in two parts: do we have enough energy to meet the increasing demand from EVs, and can we deliver it to those who need it?
The UK’s peak electricity demand is 16% lower than it was in 2002, thanks to energy efficiency improvements. The National Grid estimates that the transition to full EV ownership will increase electricity demand by around 10%, but because it’s a gradual rather than a sudden transition, the infrastructure has time to expand and upgrade to meet those demands as they slowly increase.
Another concern is that peak electricity demand usually occurs between 4pm and 8pm, when commuters get home, prepare meals and use household appliances. If they also plug in their EVs to charge, it would overwhelm the grid. Thankfully, smart charging helps to spread demand evenly throughout the day and night. Since June 2022, all private EV charge points sold have been legally required to incorporate smart functionality.
Smart charging allows drivers to plug in their cars as soon as they get home, but delay charging until demand is lower, allowing them to benefit from specialist EV tariffs that make it much cheaper to charge their vehicles at specific times of day, such as from 12am to 5am or dynamically in relation to the wholesale cost of energy. While EV owners retain control over when they charge their vehicles, they’re incentivised to avoid charging when doing so puts extra pressure on the grid.
