It’s essential to keep an open mind about EV vs ICE

I’m wary – sometimes deeply suspicious – of holier-than-thou ‘mythbuster’ articles and public information campaigns. Not least because they can, and quite frequently do, pose as many questions as they try to answer.   

Regardless of what side of the fence you’re on when it comes to emotionally charged matters such as bicycles vs motorised vehicles, Labour vs Tory, or meat-eating vs vegetarianism, please proceed, look, listen and learn with caution – while chucking a large dollop of cynicism and a sprinkling of humour into the mix. For example, my years of listening and learning have convinced me that meat is murder, but vegetables are justifiable homicide. Fair enough?   

But when it comes to motoring’s biggest debate – EV vs ICE – it’s essential to keep an open mind about what, exactly, is myth, truth or half-truth, come to that. 

Yes, it’s true (because the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders formally says so) that in winter 2024, the average range of a new electric car is 236 miles. But it’s even more truthful (and helpful) to point out – as I’m doing now – that this is a hypothetical figure. 

In real-world conditions, you’re unlikely to achieve those 236 miles on one charge – especially right now, in the coldest season. This isn’t me being anti-EV. It’s me as a tester of countless electric vans, cars and other models since the eighties, and a genuine fan of EVs today, telling you the following: if you plan to drive from, say, central Birmingham to central London, roughly 118 miles each way, in a typical new electric car that happens to be blessed with the average EV range figure this holiday season, then you must work on the assumption that you’ll need to find a charging point en route. And a friendly warning from someone who has, in the past, been badly bitten by EVs that fell well short of their expected mileage promises has to be a good thing, right? 

Better still is an extensive, brutally honest and surprisingly well balanced list of EV pros and cons from a huge, multi-brand manufacturer of pure-electric cars. I’m talking about the Volkswagen Group, which has just had the corporate balls to tell it like it is in respect of buying, leasing, charging, driving and all aspects of life with pure EVs – be they Audis, Cupras, Porsches, SEATs, Skodas, VWs or brands beyond its vast stable.

This, it has done via its in-house, free-of-charge, easily accessible and proudly independent Enter Electric! consumer guide, which tells it exactly like it is, to help customers decide. 

Sure, the Volkswagen Group is all about selling more EVs. But it’s also keen to inform and educate better. You might expect the guide to be biased but, thankfully, it’s not. A bit like Auto Express, I can’t recommend Enter Electric! highly enough.