Juice looks at some preconceived notions of driving electric

At the end of November 2023, there were 53,029 electric vehicle charging points across the UK, across 30,853 charging locations. This represents a 46% increase in the total number of charging devices since November 2022, according to Zapmap app.

These figures do not include charge points installed at home or at workplace, which are estimated to be more than 680,000. Some of these EV charging points are available to the public in some form via community or visitor charging. In addition, there are mobile charging stations with that you can recharge at every industrial and common wallsocket.

If everybody drives electric there won’t be enough power

If all (ALL!) cars would drive electrically the total power consumption would only increase by 9%. Unbelievable, right? The reason is the astonishing efficiency of electric cars. That could give one food for thought … In other words: We could all switch to start driving electrically today and could cover the increased power consumption with the existing power plants!

Range anxiety will be our co-driver

The average European drives 40–50 miles per day. That range can be driven easily by any e-car today. Today you charge where you park. Every time you sit in your car you have a full tank and therefore the full range available. That’s efficient! If you really have to drive long distances, plan your route, including stops needed to recharge.

The complete life cycle assessment of EVs is worse than the one from petrol engine cars

The truth is, batteries are recyclable up to 98%, the driving energy can be produced with water-, wind-, and solar-energy 100% CO2-neutral, the car has a 3x longer lifetime due to less parts that can break compared to a petrol engine car. And: no pollution, no oil drips to the ground, no oil tanker accidents, no grey energy from the petrol transport, no waste on old oil and filters and much more. In addition, e-cars have an energy efficiency of 90% which is used for motion, petrol cars only 15%. The rest evaporates in heat.

Nobody wants to spend four hours at the station until the car is fully charged

Indeed, nobody wants to spend four hours at a gas station. The mistake is that you never have to go to the gas station again. The most difficult thing with e-mobility – so it seems – is to unlearn the old complex operations. Energy is everywhere, you just need to make it accessible. Wherever you are, whether it’s a restaurant during your journey or directly at your destination, all you need is a power outlet and you're ready.

Electric would be cool, but the technology is not ready yet and too expensive

There is almost no technology. One battery, one electromotor, done. And both are already surprisingly mature. Regarding the price: yes, the costs move towards the initial purchase. But there are massive savings for maintenance and energy. In other words: e-cars are usually financially more attractive after three years than cars with conventional engines.