10 Quick Responses to Common Electric Car & Renewable Energy Myths

Support CleanTechnica’s work through a Substack subscription or on Stripe.

Contrary to popular belief and media hype, there are a number of myths regarding cleantech that aren’t true or lack context, yet are pushed year after year after year after year. Here are some quick responses to 10 of them:

1. Gasoline-powered cars are actually much more likely to catch fire than electric cars. (Myth: Electric cars are a major fire risk.)

2. EV batteries should last for 15+ years, or at least 10+ years. (Myth: EV batteries are like conventional 12V car batteries and need replaced every few years at a cost of thousands of dollars.)

3. There are now many affordable electric car options on the market. That includes great long-range electric cars nearly $20,000 below the average selling price of a new car in the United States (~$30,000 rather than $48,699). (Myth: Electric cars are all super expensive.)

4. For most owners, electric cars are actually much more convenient than gas-powered cars. You just plug in at home every few days or so and then unplug when you leave — no need to go to the gas station to fuel up, and no need to go for oil changes, emissions checks, etc. (Myth: Electric cars are less convenient than gas-powered cars because once in a blue moon, when you go on a long road trip, it takes slightly longer to charge during bathroom stops, food stops, and coffee stops than in a gas car.)

5. Solar power and wind power are now the cheapest options for new electricity on the market. For this reason, solar and wind actually dominate new power plant capacity around the world. (Myth: Solar and wind power are expensive.)

6. Solar panels, wind turbines, and electric cars lead to a lot less pollution than their fossil-fueled alternatives. (Myth: Because these cleaner technologies aren’t made out of unicorn farts and do take some energy and natural resources to produce, they are just as dirty as coal power plants, natural gas power plants, and conventional gas-powered cars.)

7. Solar power and wind power partner great with traditional farmland, helping some crops do grow better and helping farmers financially via supplemental income. (Myth: Solar and wind power are a threat to farmland.)

8. We can easily integrate a lot more wind and solar power into the grid while improving grid reliability and grid security. We just combine renewables with increasingly cheap battery storage and more transmission infrastructure. (Myth: We can’t add much more solar and wind power to the grid because the sun doesn’t always shine and the wind doesn’t always blow.)

9. Solar and wind power are much quicker and much cheaper to install than new nuclear power. (Myth: We should build new nuclear power plants rather than more solar and wind power.)

10. We do need solar power, wind power, and electric cars to protect our economy. Without them, we are facing increasingly severe climate disasters and destruction. (Myth: Clean technologies are not helpful for our economy, or even drag it down.)

Note: This is an update to an earlier attempt at debunking these myths that was far too verbose.