Eight EV myths, and what the evidence says

Some of these are wrong, some are half right, and a couple are true in ways people do not expect. Each one below is checked against published Australian data where it exists.

"The battery will need replacing after eight years"

Wrong. Geotab's analysis of more than 22,700 EVs found average degradation of 2.3% a year, projecting to 81.6% of capacity at eight years — a fifth of range lost, not a dead car. Their estimate of typical lifespan is 13 years or more; the Australian Government says many batteries last 15 to 20 years or 200,000+ km.

Actual replacement rates, from Recurrent's 30,000-plus connected vehicles: outside the major recalls, under 4% of EVs have had a battery replaced across all years and models, falling to 0.3% for cars from 2022 onwards. Full detail here.

"EVs catch fire more than petrol cars"

Wrong on frequency. Right that they are harder to put out.

The Australian Government's own page reports that EV FireSafe has recorded 14 EV battery fires in Australia since 2021, as at April 2026 — of which 2 were arson, 3 were garage fires that spread to the car, 5 were high-speed collisions, 1 was a bushfire, and 3 are still under investigation. Against more than 500,000 EVs on Australian roads.

For comparison, Fire and Rescue NSW attended almost 11,582 vehicle fires in total since the start of 2021/2022.

The clarification that matters most: almost every "lithium battery fire" headline is about a device, not a car. Of 315 lithium-ion battery fires FRNSW attended in one year, the top three causes were e-mobility devices like e-bikes and e-scooters (111), small portable devices like laptops (99) and battery chargers (31). FRNSW describes portable lithium-ion batteries as the fastest growing fire risk — that is not a statement about cars.

What is true: an EV traction battery burns hotter than a petrol car, the pack's location makes it hard to reach, suppression needs very large volumes of water, best practice is often to let it burn out, and it can reignite hours or days later. The NSW Rural Fire Service requires damaged EVs to be stored at least 15 m from other exposures for up to four weeks after extinguishment.

Design context: every EV sold here must meet Australian Design Rule 109/00, and ANCAP has awarded five stars to over 100 EV models.

"EVs are worse for the environment once you count manufacturing"

Wrong overall, but the manufacturing part is true.

Building an EV does produce more emissions than building an equivalent petrol car. Over a lifetime it comes out well ahead. The Australian Government's figures, using ABS modelling of about 15 years and 189,000 km:

The Government estimates an EV offsets its manufacturing "carbon debt" within about two years of use.

Be aware this is genuinely contested at the margins. A 2023 single-model case study by Pitcher Partners found a much smaller advantage and a break-even around 146,000 km on grid power — though that predates the grid moving to 42.7% renewable at the end of 2025, up from 39%, with clean energy out-generating fossil fuels for the first time in the final quarter of 2025. Australia's own Green Vehicle Guide does not publish lifecycle comparisons at all, citing insufficient model-level data, so there is no single official break-even figure.

"You can't tow with an EV"

Half right, and the specifics matter more than the drivetrain.

No mainstream battery EV sold here matches a Ford Ranger's 3500 kg braked. But plenty tow usefully: Kia EV9 2500 kg, Polestar 3 up to 2200 kg, EV6 up to 1800 kg, Tesla Model Y 1600 kg.

The fact that upends the myth: a Toyota RAV4 Hybrid 2WD tows 480 kg, less than nearly every EV in that list. "Buy a hybrid if you tow" is wrong as a general rule — check the variant.

The real cost is range. Expect roughly 40% to 55% less range towing a caravan-sized load, better with something small and aerodynamic. And fitting a towbar to a model not approved for towing can affect warranty and insurance.

"EVs don't work in the country"

Largely wrong for routine driving, right for specific remote routes.

Most EVs do 300 to 500 km between charges. Regional drivers cover more ground than city ones — around 38 km a day against 30 — but the Australian Government puts the average across all drivers at 33 km a day, and most EV models sold here offer over 300 km of range, so even a regional weekday sits comfortably inside one charge. Regional uptake is rising quickly — regional postcodes' share of used EV purchases through Pickles Auctions went from 27% to 32% year on year, with Queensland jumping from 17% to 48% — one auction house's book rather than the whole used market, but a sharp move.

The constraint is not everyday regional driving. It is the occasional long trip on the corridors listed in public EV charging — the Stuart Highway north of Katherine, the Nullarbor, and genuinely remote touring routes.

"You can't charge in the rain"

Wrong. The Electric Vehicle Council states plainly that charging points and cables are designed to be weatherproof. The NRMA says charging in the rain or after driving in wet conditions is safe, particularly at fast or destination chargers. Connectors lock and communicate before any high-voltage current flows.

Sensible caveats: do not charge during flash flooding, check cables are not damaged or frayed, avoid extension leads and domestic plugs in wet conditions, and use chargers carrying the Regulatory Compliance Mark.

On floodwater specifically, EV FireSafe's position is that EV battery packs are designed to be safe in water even if fully submerged, and that a submerged EV does not electrify the water around it — with no recorded instances of responders being electrocuted by an immersed EV. But a submerged EV should not be driven or charged, and salt water raises the risk of a delayed short circuit and fire. The NRMA's driving advice is the same for every vehicle: if it's flooded, forget it.

"Hybrids need to be plugged in"

Wrong for conventional hybrids, and this confusion costs people money.

The Green Vehicle Guide is explicit: non-plug-in hybrids do not need to be plugged into an outlet. They recharge from regenerative braking and the engine. The Government goes further and notes hybrids are not classed as electric vehicles at all.

Plug-in hybrids do plug in, and all PHEV models sold in Australia travel around 50 km on battery alone, with many around 100 km.

Which leads to the myth's more useful inverse: a plug-in hybrid that never gets plugged in is not delivering its advertised economy. The ICCT found in June 2026 that European PHEVs emit on average about five times their official CO2 figures. A separate February 2026 study by Fraunhofer ISI, the Öko-Institut and IFEU measured real-world use at 5.9 L/100 km against 1.6–1.7 on the official test, because only about a quarter of kilometres are actually driven on battery. That is European data, but the mechanism is universal — see should you buy a plug-in hybrid.

"The grid can't cope"

Wrong as stated; the real issue is coordination, not capacity.

AEMO's 2026 Integrated System Plan treats EVs as a formal part of the energy system for the first time, forecasting road transport demand growing to around 61 TWh by 2050 and around 80% of vehicles electric — while also expecting more than 10% of household EVs to feed capacity back, providing several gigawatts of flexible capacity.

The practical risk is everyone charging at the evening peak, which smart charging and off-peak tariffs address — and which the Government's own advice already points at, noting that smart chargers reduce costs and support grid stability.

Vehicle-to-grid is real but early here: new standards have been approved, but the Government cautions that very few EVs in Australia have V2X capability confirmed by the manufacturer, and using it without that confirmation may affect warranty or servicing support. Treat V2G as a coming feature, not a current one.