New UK-based Organization Established to Fight Rampant EV Misinformation

In September 2024, a new organization, Electric Vehicles UK, was formed to offer an honest assessment of the “good and the bad” of owning electric vehicles (EVs). The group aims to address the gap between public perceptions and the actual experiences of EV drivers.

Electric Vehicles UK is a collaboration between energy provider Octopus Energy and the Fully Charged Show/EVerything Electric, an online news channel and event series focused on EVs and renewable energy. The organization was launched at Octopus Energy’s headquarters in central London, where 120 senior professionals from the UK’s EV, renewable energy, and green technology sectors gathered to discuss the challenges and opportunities of EV adoption.

By focusing on both positive and negative aspects, Electric Vehicles UK aims to provide a balanced perspective that helps consumers make more informed decisions about switching to electric vehicles.

Fully Charged Show Leaders Speak Out

Actor, comedian and presenter Robert Llewellyn, founder of the Fully Charged Show, said there is a “torrent” of misinformation about EVs, such as them being “expensive”, their batteries being thrown away or the cars being “dirtier than diesels”.

Llewellyn continued: “The oil industry has got countless billions of dollars they’re spending on lobby groups, on misinformation. It’s been done before. It’s well documented. They don’t even deny it.”

Llewellyn added there is “no question” that the switch to electric motoring will grow, as combustion engines are “hugely inefficient”, and new EV technology will “wipe combustion cars off the face of the planet”.

Fully Charged Show CEO Dan Caesar was appointed interim CEO of Electric Vehicles UK for its first year. He described how misinformation is “a significant problem” that is slowing EV demand.

Caesar said: “It’s a really polarizing issue for some, and it probably shouldn’t be that way. Most people if they want to run a combustion engine vehicle can do so well into the 2040s, so rhetoric around the fact they’re going to have to hand over their car keys is not helping.”

Caesar continued, “What we’re keen to do is bring industry together to be a bit more coordinated in how it talks about the lived experience of EV drivers. We want to get information out there that educates the market about EVs, but is still balanced.”

Caesar said the early days of “EV evangelists” are over, and the industry needs to be “really responsible” to “win over the mainstream. By uniting under the Electric Vehicles UK brand we believe we can be much more effective in communicating information and factual evidence of the good and the bad aspects of EV ownership.”

Octopus Electric Vehicle CEO Speaks

Octopus Electric Vehicles CEO Fiona Howarth said: “Customers are looking for accurate and fair information about the cars. All of the good information certainly isn’t getting through.”

She said perceptions about the cost of EVs are “a big barrier”.

Howarth continued, “As of a few years ago, the cost of EVs were typically £5,000-£10,000 more expensive (than ICE cars), and also then energy prices went up and there was news around the cost of running an EV being more expensive.”

“That’s not the case any more. Batteries have come down (in price). There’s been this emergence of lots of low-cost EVs, ” Howarth continued.

Globally Recognized EV Influencer Roger Atkins Shows Support for Electric Vehicles UK

EVinfo.net spoke with our great friend Roger Atkins, UK-based EV Influencer and Founder of Electric Vehicles Outlook Ltd, a business consultancy that helps clients navigate the EV industry in the electric-connected-autonomous-shared vehicles space.

Atkins said: “Electric Vehicles UK is all about collaborating and communicating. Led by Octopus Electric Vehicles, Fully Charged/Everything Electric, its scope will be to bring together industry voices to present facts to the public, rather than ill-informed opinion which has been on the increase – maybe even paid-for ‘opinion’ and influence – who knows!”

EV Misinformation is Rampant Around the World

Some EV misinformation examples are highlighted by this electrek article about “news” stories misrepresenting the EV sales growth slowdown, and this Element Fleet Management article which debunks the myth of EV lifecycle emissions.

EVinfo.net agrees with Caesar, Llewellyn, Atkins and Howarth. We commend these excellent leaders for their important work in supporting EV adoption. At EVinfo.net, we provide up-to-date news and information about the worldwide EV revolution. In particular, our focus is in the United States, which is still struggling to enter mass EV adoption, due to a wide variety of barriers.

Significant misinformation sponsored by oil companies and those invested in the internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicle industry is one of the largest barriers. Millions of Americans are exposed to exclusively anti-EV media content on a daily basis, by following heavily biased “news” channels and influencers.

These unfortunate individuals are being kept from learning the truth, that EVs are not only good for the planet, but good for drivers’ pocketbooks as well. EVs have a lower total cost of ownership (TCO) over the long run, as EVs require less maintenance, and electricity is cheaper than gasoline in every state, as reported by Stable Auto.

We encourage you to follow EVinfo.net on LinkedIn, where we respond to all viewpoints on electric vehicles, and attempt to lead the public to the truth about electric vehicles. While there are a wide variety of struggles for EV adopters in America at the moment, all of the barriers are being reduced by passionate EV advocates and professionals, all across this great country of ours. Together we will bring America and the world a cleaner, greener and more cost-effective electric transportation future.