Greg De Temmerman, Chief Science Officer, Quadrature Climate Foundation

Electric vehicles are not a silver bullet for solving the climate crisis, but they are a key ingredient for the decarbonisation of the road transport sector, which accounts for 12% of emissions globally, and over 21% in the EU.

The data is clear that electric vehicles emit less CO2 over their lifetime than petrol or diesel cars in most countries. One needs to have an electricity mix almost fully based on coal to see this being untrue. (For reference, coal represents about 60% of electricity generation in China.) This comes from the fact that EVs are far superior to gasoline or diesel cars in terms of energy efficiency.

And yet, electric vehicles are subject to massive disinformation and misinformation efforts - which has a strong effect on public perception. Take a look at Carbon Brief’s factcheck of the most persistent myths to appear in the media. They cover all sorts of wild and inaccurate claims which promote range anxiety, exaggerate the distance EVs need to cover before they become carbon negative and even the risk of explosion. (On that one, figures from Norway show that EVs catch fire five or six times less often than standard combustion engine vehicles.)

Given the prevalence of misinformation about EVs, the chances are that if the topic comes up around the dinner table with family and friends, things could get pretty heated. To guide you in these conversations, the Guardian has published a series of mythbusters. It’s easy to read, and based on solid evidence.

Besides emissions, the need for mining in the production of EVs (mainly for batteries) comes high up the list of topics prone to bad information. While it is true that electric vehicles require more metals than internal combustion vehicles, the latter uses significantly more fuel during their lifetime.

A recent paper published in Joule (which follows several on the same topic) showed that the energy transition will in fact require less mining than the current fossil-fuel based system. More than 15bn tonnes of fossil fuels are extracted and burnt each year. Under a 1.5C pathway, critical mineral needs would be 500 times lower amounting to 30m tonnes a year by 2030.

What’s more, unlike oil and gas, metals can be recycled. As David Bott, the head of innovation at the Society of Chemical Industry, told the Guardian: “The real thing people forget is once it has been mined, you will end up being able to reuse 80-90% of the metals. You don’t have to go back to the planet to steal more minerals.”

The mining sector needs to improve on many fronts – not least in terms of emissions, pollution, water use, and its impact on indigenous communities – but the requirement for metals in EV is not a reason to delay replacing the gas-guzzlers as fast as possible.