Misinformation around electric vehicles is rife, with many potential drivers quick to believe some of the false – or exaggerated – stories surrounding them, says Paul Hollick, chair, Association of Fleet Professionals

AFP chair Paul Hollick

There’s an old adage that truth is the first casualty of war. It seems that the way in which the conflict in Ukraine has indirectly affected some public perceptions of electric vehicles (EVs) is a tiny but unfortunate example of this.

I was chatting to an acquaintance recently about buying a car. They said they wouldn’t be considering an EV because someone on the radio had suggested that charging them had become as expensive as buying petrol or diesel following Putin’s invasion. The escalating cost of electricity and the up-and-down journey of pump prices have complicated the comparison of EV versus ICE cars, but I know of no expert who would agree with this claim to even the slightest degree.

This example is far from the first piece of EV misinformation that I’ve heard from the general public. And not all of it is prompted by recent energy price upheaval, of course. No doubt fleet managers could each name their own examples – perhaps that batteries fail after eight years and the cars become worthless, or that they can’t be used in cold weather, or that they are three times as expensive as diesel cars. And so on.

You could argue that this kind of misinformation shouldn’t matter to fleets because electrification in our sector is well underway at a rapid pace but, ultimately, it does have an effect. Public acceptance of EVs is essential to future residual values of the cars that we are operating, buying and ordering right now. Without strong RVs underpinning running costs, the economic impetus for moving away from ICE vehicles simply becomes weaker.

What can the fleet sector do about this? On an personal level, debunk. If anyone asks you about EVs and is, to put it politely, talking nonsense, you can give them the benefit of your practical experience. Your drivers could, of course, be encouraged to do the same. As fleet managers know, the overwhelming majority of employees who adopt an EV would not willingly return to a petrol or diesel equivalent.

Thinking more strategically, a broader answer lies in working with the remarketing sector to ensure that we develop an ongoing dialogue about the growing used EV market. The fleet sector needs to cultivate a strong understanding of motorist concerns about electrification and what can be done to help dealers allay them.

From a fleet point of view, this probably means ensuring that EVs added to choice lists have a high degree of appeal for the used market. I suspect that means longer range models in most instances, as well as ensuring that the history that is provided with them at disposal time is absolutely watertight and looks beyond the standard factors to which we have become accustomed. This may include, for example, independent battery health checks and even telematics or connected car records of their use.

Really, it’s all about providing used car buyers, who may have heard questionable things about EVs, with as much reassurance as possible as we head towards 2030 and increasing electrification of the used sector. Achieving this will be good for fleets, good for dealers – and good for the motorists themselves.