Believe it or not, electric vehicles (EVs) have been around for quite some time - not far off 200 years, to be precise. When Scottish inventor Robert Anderson first cobbled together a horseless carriage (that's old speak for 'car', by the way), powered by non-rechargeable batteries between 1832 and 1839, a string of all-electric cars and concepts have followed since. Had it not been for Henry Ford popularising the combustion engine in 1908, then the chances are we'd all be driving EVs long before now. But, thankfully, it's not 1908 anymore - 110 years later and EVs are well and truly on the rise but why, after nearly two centuries and countless cars, are they still shrouded in mystery and misunderstood?
Well, fear not because we here at Formula E have scoured social media and gathered your top EV myths, misconceptions and outlandish misunderstandings and carefully handed them over to our EV experts to answer. Scroll down to put an end to your top five electric-driving fears.
5. “Can you drive an EV in the rain?”
Urgh – we get this one all the time. In one word – yes. Despite the fact that Formula E has successfully managed to swerve a wet race for all 41 E-Prix, you can indeed drive an electric car in the rain, which is good news considering there are millions of them driving around in all kinds of weather conditions as we write this. Breathe a sigh of relief if you're currently cowering behind the wheel while the rain pours down - it's okay to go out now. But, in case you're still not convinced, here's a picture of Stephane Sarrazin blasting through surface water during a wet practice session in New York City last year.
4. “Don’t they all just run out of battery?”
We're not exactly scientists but, as a general rule, if you put fuel in, you get places. It's the same for combustion engined cars, humans and, surprisingly enough, electric vehicles. With the current crop of electric cars capable of clocking up hundreds of miles on a single charge - such as Jaguar's I-Pace, which has a range of 400km - modern EVs are certainly capable contenders for the daily commute.
3. “EVs are so slow”
Really? Ever see NIO’s EP9 hypercar smash the record for the fastest street-legal car around the Nurburgring in 2017? Well, in case you didn’t, we’ve clipped it up above and, yes, it really is that fast. Created by the same electro boffins behind NIO’s Formula E team, the EP9 can accelerate to 100km/h in just 2.7-seconds and go on all the way to 312km/h. That’s faster off the mark than a Porsche GT2 RS, a Ferrari F12 TDF and a Lamborghini Aventador, just to put things in perspective. Oh, and if that wasn’t enough, electromobility mastermind Elon Musk revealed a car that can sprint to 100km/h in just 1.9-seconds. That fast enough for you?
4. “EVs don’t make any sound!”
Well, that's just not true. As Techeetah's Jean-Eric Vergne masterfully demonstrated in the post-race press conference in Paris, they go, "sshhcow." Nice work, JEV. But, on a more serious note, one of the main reasons we’re able to bring Formula E racing to your city streets is that our cars are both quieter and cleaner than combustion engine racing cars. So, instead of bleeding eardrums and a face full of combusted carbon, our fans can walk to the track, soak up all the action and walk back home again. Simple.
5. “EVs will never catch on”
...or so they said back in 2013 when Formula E held its first ever race on the streets of Beijing. But, here we are - five years and 41 races on, with eight global EV car manufacturers on the grid and another two - motorsport masters Porsche and Mercedes-Benz - joining in 2019. Think EVs will never catch on? The automotive elite would beg to differ.