Even Australia's EV owners believe misinformation about cars, study finds

Australia Broadcast Center

2 days ago

Australians are buying more electric vehicles (EVs) than ever before, but even owners are still falling for misinformation about the battery-powered cars.
New research into public perceptions about EVs found myths had become deeply embedded in society and caught up in the culture wars.
Now more people believed misinformation about EVs than disagreed with it.
Drivers were particularly concerned about "discredited notions" that the vehicles were more likely to catch fire, and that batteries were designed to fail.
The peer-reviewed study, published in Nature Energy, was carried out in Australia, Germany, Austria, and the United States.
Researchers found that many people expressed "legitimate anxiety" that EV batteries may run out before reaching a destination.
But there were several misinformation-related concerns that were so "grounded in myth" even EV owners agreed with them.
Many people largely believed reports that batteries were made to be deliberately non-upgradeable.
Consumers were also under the impression that EVs emit electromagnetic fields that can damage health, are less safe in a collision, and produce more carbon emissions over a lifetime than traditional cars.
Chris Bretter from the University of Queensland, which led the study, described these types of claims as "demonstrably false".
"We know this sort of false information is out there and circulating, but the scale of acceptance is concerning and poses a significant challenge to the global transition to more sustainable transport," Dr Bretter said.
"The fact that even EV owners were more likely than not to agree with misinformation underscores just how embedded it's become in society."
Media reports describing EVs as being highly combustive, "like a bomb" were contributing to fears about the cars' batteries catching fire, the researchers said.
There was also a tendency for misinformation to be spread in conservative communication channels, raising concerns about EV attitudes being "drawn into the culture wars".
"The fact that even owners had high levels of misinformation agreement underscores the extent to which misinformation has permeated the population," the report stated.
The survey found that having a conspiracy mentality was the main factor influencing beliefs.
The report said that suspicions could arise if there were perceived motives for government or industry to exaggerate the benefits of a technology and disguise its dangers.
"Given that EVs are a multi-billion-dollar industry frequently supported by emissions-sensitive governments, it seems plausible they could become targets of suspicion for those who see such relationships through the lens of corruption and secret agendas," the researchers said.
UQ Business School professor Matthew Hornsey said education played no role in whether survey respondents agreed with false information about EVs.
"The biggest predictor of whether a person accepted misinformation statements was actually conspiracy mentality — a tendency to believe conspiracies occur and seeing the world through a lens of corruption and secret agendas," Professor Hornsey said.
"This same outlook has also been associated with opposition to science-backed technologies like vaccinations and wind farms.
"The results show public understanding of EVs has been distorted by an information landscape shaped by myths, selective framing and speculative reasoning," he said.
The researchers tested strategies to reduce belief in EV misinformation, increase support for pro-EV policy and an intention to purchase the vehicles.
They provided information to consumers using a traditional fact sheet and conversations with generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools such as ChatGPT.
Both were found to have success in reducing misinformation.
"Encouragingly, both strategies resulted in lower endorsement of EV misinformation, even 10 days on," Dr Better said.
The researchers were particularly interested in the effect of dialogues with AI on public mistrust, and the results were encouraging.
It resulted in "large and durable decreases in individuals' conspiracy theorising".
"This is the first evidence that non-curated conversations with Generative AI can have positive effects on misinformation, showing its promise for possible future solution-focused interventions on a large scale," Dr Bretter said.
"Given the global need to transition toward more sustainable transport options, it is crucial we address the prevalence of misinformation about energy efficient technologies like EVs."
The project also involved researchers from the Leibniz Institute for Psychology and the University of Hohenheim in Germany.
This research was supported by an ARC Laureate grant and a grant from Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (German Research Foundation).