Electric cars, autonomous driving or the fuel cell are the subject of many myths that like to spread and be disseminated about such new and confusing topics. Here is a collection of helpful details about single topics, which should refute wrong but common arguments and bring some useful facts.
Electric Vehicle Myths
What about the electricity we need from electric cars, the energy we need to provide gasoline or diesel, and the efficiency of electric motors?
Here’s a chart from a study by The International Council on Clean Transportation that shows emissions over the life cycle of internal combustion engine (ICE) and battery electric vehicle (BEV) powertrains:

Here are more links with detailed breakdowns and numbers:
- Calculator for the carbon footprint for different drive technologies and what goes into it
- TU Eindhoven: Comparing the lifetime green house gas emissions of electric cars with the emissions of cars using gasoline or diesel
- TU Bundeswehr: Total CO2-equivalent life-cycle emissions from commercially available passenger cars
How environmentally friendly are batteries, how long do they last, and what happens when they can no longer be used in cars?
- EMPA: Old electric car batteries Ready to recycle?
- Teslarati: Lithium produced for Tesla’s batteries is less polluting than 31 cups of coffee: researcher
- IVL: New report on climate impact of electric car batteries
Fire danger of EVs:
- AutoinsuranceEZ: Gas vs. Electric Car Fires [2023 Findings]
EVs in a traffic jam
- Business Insider: A Tesla driver details how he survived a 14-hour traffic jam in snowy weather with 50 miles of battery range to spare
e-Fuel Myths
- Transport and Environment: UPDATE – T&Eʼs analysis of electric car lifecycle CO₂ emissions

(C) UPDATE – T&Eʼs analysis of electric car lifecycle CO₂ e
Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Myths
Is the fuel cell, which is powered only by hydrogen, the solution? How does it work and what is the energy balance of hydrogen?
- Fuel Cell: Is it a dead horse?
- Bloomberg: Liebreich: Separating Hype from Hydrogen – Part One: The Supply Side
- Bloomberg: Liebreich: Separating Hype from Hydrogen – Part Two: The Demand Side
And here from Michael Sura a graphical comparison of the range of a battery electric and a fuel cell vehicle with the same output energy:

Fossil Fuels
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