Electric cars seem to be a curiously emotive subject. Cars in general tend to trigger a greater emotional response than, say, fridges or washing machines — despite all three being made up of the same mix of metal, plastics, and rubber.
Perhaps that emotional attachment to cars partly explains why people tend to get so heated, especially on social media, when the talk turns to electric cars. For everyone who expresses positive feelings about EVs, there are at least a dozen who proclaim that, “I’ll stick with my diesel, thanks” or that “sure, you’ll have the replace the battery in two years and that €20,000”.
Whether through ignorance, fear, or some sort of political standpoint, some will happily and carelessly spread rumours, half-truths, and downright lies when it comes to electric cars. Here, we try to pick apart some of the more pernicious concerns when it comes to EVs [electric vehicles].
The battery will fail
Can the battery in an electric car simply fail? Yes, it can. Will it, though? No, it almost certainly won’t. When we buy any new or used car, there is always a risk of mechanical or electronic failure, which can range from small and annoying to big and disastrous. It’s why we have warranties, to give us the peace of mind that — for a certain period — if something does go horribly wrong, we won’t be out of pocket.
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That’s as equally true of EVs as it is with petrol, diesel, or hybrid cars. Sure, things can go wrong, and hence there are tales on some social media platforms and in some other media outlets of people who’ve had to pay five-figure sums to replace a battery in their electric car. Do such things happen? Yes, they do but they’re rare.
Batteries are proving to be much more long-lived than even the most optimistic experts had expected back when the first EVs began to hit the market. BMW, for instance, was one of the first on the electric car bandwagon, back in 2014 with its i3 (now out of production, but still one of the very best first-gen EVs). How many complete battery pack replacements have been carried out for i3 owners in the 10 years since? None. Zero. Zip. Nada.
“The lifespan of an EV battery is quite impressive. On average, an EV battery lasts about 320,000km. To put that into perspective, in Ireland, where the average person drives around 15,000 – 18,000km a year, that’s roughly 19 to 20 years of use. And when you consider that Ice engine vehicles [an automobile powered by conventional, oil-derived resources, such as gasoline or diesel fuel] have more moving parts, there’s actually a lot more that can go wrong with them over time,” said Mark Barrett, managing director of group franchises at Harris Group.
“Yes, replacing a full battery can be costly, but costs are on a downward trajectory, and this will only continue into the future. I’d also like to stress that replacing a full battery is extremely rare. At Maxus [the EV brand which Harris imports into Ireland], I can count on one hand the number of times that it has happened, and it’s usually due to a crash rather than the battery failing. Often, it’s just a matter of replacing one or a number of modules, which is far more affordable than swapping out the entire battery.
“Tech innovation is also ensuring that modern batteries are in good health for much longer. Take AI [artificial intelligence], for example, which is already helping to improve the longevity of EV batteries by optimising charging methods. As this technology continues to improve, both battery life and maintenance will likely become even more sustainable and cost-effective into the future.”
Stephen McGrath, head of product for Peugeot in Ireland points out that the myths around batteries degrading just don’t stack up. “We have a warranty on our EV’s of eight years, or 160,000km to ensure that the battery retains at least 70 per cent of its original charging capacity” he said.
“There is a misconception that whole batteries need to be replaced. If there is an issue in one of the cells in our batteries that can be replaced. They’re also cheap to run — Peugeot has invested in training technicians in the network on repairing EV’s to the highest standard and quality. EV’s have 90 per cent fewer moving parts than a combustion engine leading to less wear and tear and cost 30 per cent less on average to maintain.”
The key thing to remember is that every electric vehicle comes with an eight-year, 160,000km battery warranty that protects against any unexpected costs. That means that for most drivers, they’ll be selling their EV on or trading it in with four years and 96,000km left in the warranty (assuming they cover the average annual 16,000km mileage). So battery failure for most owners won’t be their problem and it won’t be the next owner’s problem either.
For anyone then saying, “what about someone buying an older EV”, well only a handful of current EVs are older than eight years, and in most cases, their batteries are still working fine. Slightly less shiny than when they were new, it’s true, but still perfectly functional. And by the time a new EV bought today reaches the end of its battery warranty, the cost of batteries — and therefore of replacement cells or an entire unit — will have come down again, making any necessary repairs that much cheaper.
Beyond that, carmakers are already starting to cotton on to the fact that an electric car battery, even one that’s reached the end of its life, has value as a recycled product. Batteries can be more or less endlessly recycled, which means that in the future as car production becomes much more “circular” at some point your battery (and the rest of your car) will be worth more as recycling than it will be as a car, and many manufacturers are already working on apps which you can consult regularly to see when your EV crosses that line.
Electric cars cost too much
This has, up till now, been more or less right — EVs have tended to be more expensive models, simply because carmakers have wanted to recoup the large investments made in electric car technology, and that’s most easily done by selling bigger, pricier cars (also because the EU forgot to include weight limits when it came to CO₂ credits but that’s another day’s argument). Things are changing fast, though.
Gaspar Alcaide, brand director for Cupra in Ireland, said: “Whilst initially electric car prices were more expensive than their internal combustion counterparts, price parity has arrived quite quickly. For example, the Cupra Born now retails at €35,855 if you allow for the grants, versus €38,905 for the equivalent Leon eTSI DSG petrol. The Born comes with an additional 81hp though, 231hp versus 150hp. We are seeing similar trends across a wide range of models and marques.”
It’s also important to remember, said Barrett, that the whole-life cost of an electric car is lower even if the initial purchase price is higher: “When you look at the total cost of ownership, EVs actually offer significant savings over their lifespan. One of the biggest factors is maintenance — electric cars are much cheaper to maintain because they have far fewer moving parts. For example, no oil changes are needed, which eliminates a big recurring expense. Another big one is the braking system. Most EVs use regenerative braking, which not only improves energy efficiency but also reduces wear on the brakes, so they last longer. On top of that, EVs have fewer filters that need replacing, compared to traditional engines, which means less routine maintenance.”
Beyond that, more affordable electric cars are coming, and coming soon. The BYD Dolphin is already on sale and has a starting price of less than €30,000 with a range of more than 400km. Ditto the MG 4, while even more affordable models are shortly arriving from the likes of Citroen with the e-C3, Fiat with the Grande Panda, Renault with the new 5 EV, and especially Dacia, whose new Spring will likely be the first electric car in Ireland to duck under the €20,000 mark (aside from the handful of Volkswagen e-Ups which were sold off at €18,000 to clear stocks).
Electric cars pollute just as much, if not more than, combustion cars
This is one slice of misinformation that has hung around for quite some time, and it’s almost wrong. There is a nugget of fact at the core of it — that making an EV’s battery uses up more energy at the factory than making the combustion engine for a conventional car. That is true, but it’s changing fast, especially as carmakers adopt more and more renewable energy sources for their factories.
According to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), even with current energy sources, it’s difficult to find a comparison in which EVs fare worse than internal combustion. If electric vehicles had a shorter lifespan than gas cars, that would hurt their numbers because they would have fewer low-emissions miles on the road to make up for the carbon-intensive manufacture of their batteries. Yet when the MIT study calculated a comparison in which EVs lasted only 140,000km on the road rather than 290,000km, they remained 15 per cent better than a hybrid and far better than a petrol car.
There’s more to come too. We can make batteries even cleaner than they are, partly by moving more of their production to Europe. Making batteries in China — where the vast majority of EV batteries are made — is slightly problematic, because so much of China’s electricity production (some 1.04-terawatts, according to Reuters) still comes from coal. According to the European eco think tank Transport & Environment, that means each battery made there causes about 120kg of CO₂ per kWh of battery capacity. This means thousands and thousands of tonnes of CO₂ for the thousands and thousands of batteries being made. And then add on shipping emissions.
If those batteries could be made in Europe, then their emissions could be slashed, or at least that’s the contention of Transport & Environment. According to their research, the emissions associated with making batteries could be slashed to slightly more than 40kg of CO₂ per kWh if they were made in Europe using largely renewable energy. Even if those batteries were made using the current EU grid average, they would be some 37 per cent more efficient than Chinese batteries.
Julia Poliscanova, senior director for vehicles and e-mobility supply chains at Transport & Environment, said: “Batteries, and metals that go into them, are the new oil. European leaders will need laser-sharp focus and joined-up thinking to reap their climate and industrial benefits. Strong sustainability requirements, such as the upcoming battery carbon footprint rules, can reward local clean manufacturing. Crucially, Europe needs better instruments under the European Investment Bank and EU Battery Fund to support gigafactory investments.”
