What to remember from the book “50 myths and half-truths about electric vehicles” by Daniel Breton

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In recent months, sales of electric vehicles have reached a peak in Quebec. Motorists are rushing to get their hands on these cars before financial aid decreases next January. They registered nearly 34,000 electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles in three months — a record in Quebec.

Alongside this obvious enthusiasm, an “avalanche of myths and half-truths” continues to flood the public space, writes Daniel Breton, former PQ Minister of the Environment, in his most recent book, published last week.

The environmentalist, now CEO of the Electric Mobility Canada association, signs 50 Myths and Half-Truths About Electric Vehiclespublished by Éditions Somme toute. Its objective: to deconstruct false conceptions that hover over the electric car.

After devouring the book, the Courrier de la planète offers you four particularly interesting “bites”.

1) Electric vehicles don’t really cost more.

At Canadian dealerships, there are currently 50 models of electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles for less than $66,422, writes Daniel Breton.

It seems expensive. But why use this threshold of $66,422? This is the average price of new vehicles sold in Canada (before rebates), whether electric or gasoline. For the past five years, the price of new vehicles has been growing stratospherically. The abandonment of small entry-level models by car manufacturers is contributing to this growth.

So, are electric vehicles expensive? One could answer that all new cars are now very expensive…

To determine which electric vehicle models fall below the average, Breton subtracts the federal rebate, but does not take into account the provincial rebate. The actual price paid is therefore lower. (This is also true for gasoline vehicles, which often receive rebates that lower their price below the registration price.)

2) Electric vehicles can now be recharged very quickly.

Every day, electric vehicle drivers charge their cars at home. So they don’t waste a minute of their time. But what about charging during long trips?

Plugged into a fast charging station, the latest models now only need 15 to 30 minutes to charge the battery from 20% to 80%. A welcome moment “to stretch your legs and eat,” the author observes.

Pre-2020 models typically took three times longer to charge the same amount of time…and technological advances promise even faster charging in the future.

3) Batteries last a very long time.

Many people are sadly noticing that their mobile phone battery no longer holds a charge after two years of use. Is the same risk facing electric vehicle owners?

No, Daniel Breton answers in his book. Batteries are generally guaranteed for 8 to 10 years, or 160,000 to 240,000 km. In practice, he writes, they can generally last 300,000 to 600,000 km. And batteries continue to improve. A lifespan of several million kilometers would soon be within their reach. “The challenge of the coming years will be […] to manufacture vehicles capable of lasting as long as their batteries,” predicts the specialist.

According to a 2023 analysis cited by the author, only 225 batteries were replaced in a sample of 15,000 electric vehicles (which excludes major recalls, such as the Chevrolet Bolt, in which the replacement is paid for by the manufacturer).

4) Electric vehicles are better for respiratory health.

No exhaust, no pollutant emissions: you might think the equation is that simple. However, that would be forgetting the fine particles that emanate from tires and brakes — a problem that also affects electric vehicles.

In fact, they are generally a bit heavier than gasoline vehicles. Their tires rub harder on the road, and therefore release more particles. Do they pollute the air more than modern gasoline vehicles with anti-pollution systems? (We are forgetting here CO₂ emissions, where electric vehicles obviously win hands down.)

Daniel Breton wants to be reassuring. Thanks to regenerative braking (which recharges the battery), electric vehicles wear out their brake pads much less. They therefore create less dust. And then, their excess weight tends to fade in new models, whose batteries store more kilowatt hours per gram.

All in all, the positive effect of electric vehicles on respiratory health is already being seen: according to a 2023 study, a decrease in hospitalizations for asthma problems was observed in regions of California where electric vehicles are adopted in greater proportions.

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