EV Misinformation – It Goes Both Ways
By Edward A. Sanchez – April 25, 2022
In episode 62 of The Watt Car podcast, I addressed a popular re-posted meme about how impractical and expensive EVs were and attempted to methodically and objectively address some of the most-cited criticisms of EVs. In the episode, podcast cohost Phil Royle and I acknowledge some of the issues and shortcomings with EVs, both on a macro and micro level. But in this post, I’m going to take issue with some misinformation coming from the pro-EV camp, specifically in regard to charging and fuel cost relative to gasoline.
What kicked this off was a photo re-posted from Twitter that I saw on my LinkedIn feed, which showed a gas station marquee showing gasoline at $4.19 a gallon and the cost of electricity at $0.15/kWh. The inference, whether deliberate or coincidental, is that the equivalent energy to a gallon of gas is $0.15. It is not.
According to his Twitter profile, Creston Mansfeldt is an Assistant Professor at the University of Colorado Boulder. His tweets are diverse, appear well thought out, and are almost never about EVs. This post, however, went viral.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has established 33.7 kWh as the approximate amount of potential energy in a gallon of gasoline. So to create a true apples-to-apples comparison, you would multiply the cost of 1 kWh of electricity times 33.7. At $0.15/kWh, which comes to approximately $5.06.
“Haha!” the EV detractors might say, “That’s more than a gallon of gas is in my area, and barely cheaper than in high-cost states like California.” OK. But let’s look at the bigger picture. EVs are typically three to four times as efficient on an energy consumption standpoint than an ICE equivalent. To err on the conservative side, let’s divide that number by three. That brings the gallon equivalent (taking EVs’ efficiency advantage into consideration) to around $1.69. Still a significant cost savings on a per-mile fuel consumption basis over an ICE vehicle. But certainly a lot more than $0.15.
It’s easy to get caught up in the enthusiasm and excitement around EVs. I’ve been guilty of it myself at times. But it does not help EVs’ cause when its advocates use misleading metrics to try to tout their benefits. Whether they realize it or not, EV advocates are engaging in the same sort of misinformation as EV opponents and detractors, just in a different way.
I’m hopeful that their intentions are well-meaning, and not malicious or deliberately misleading, but we need to make sure that all cost comparisons are as apples-to-apples as possible, and not trying to put our thumb on the scale to give EVs a perceptive advantage.
Let’s be honest about the full spectrum of the EV ownership and driving experience. Nobody likes a “bait-and-switch” and making a decision or purchase based on false pretenses. It’s time the EV community moves beyond the naïve cheerleader stage and engages in objective, level-headed conversation and discussion about the technology.
(Main image by Phil Royle)
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