AN INTERNATIONAL survey of more than 26,000 EV owners in 30 countries has found that 77 per cent believe that the single biggest obstacle to EV adoption is “persistent myths”.

The survey, by Global EV Alliance – which has nearly 350,000 members in 42 countries including the Australian EV Association – also reported that 83 per cent of respondents said that policy measures are needed to increase EV sales.

Global EV Alliance (GEVA) chair and director of Plug-In America, Joel Levin, said misinformation about EVs was a “serious challenge”.“It can make policymakers less confident that electric vehicles are a viable solution to climate change and local air pollution,” he said.

One common myth in many countries is that electric cars are a fire hazard. The survey found that 88 per cent of the EV drivers in the survey said they “weren’t worried” about their EV being a fire hazard.

“Myths clearly don’t affect existing EV drivers, as they know from experience that these myths are false,” Mr Levin said.

“This highlights the importance of giving EV consumers a voice in the public debate to help counter such misconceptions.”

When asked about waiting at an EV charging station, 32 per cent of owners said they “never” had to wait and 40 per cent said “rarely”. Only 1 per cent said “always”.Asked if there were brands or countries-of-origin EVs they would avoid for political reasons, 53 per cent said “yes”.

Tesla topped the “brands to be avoided” by 41 per cent; followed by China as an EV supplier (12 per cent); and then the US (5 per cent).

Respondents were also asked about owning an EV with 45 per cent saying there were “no disadvantages” in owning one, although 20 per cent said charging time was “consuming” and fast-charger coverage was “poor”.

Only 3 per cent said range anxiety was an issue, with 44 per cent saying it was not a problem.

Several findings from the survey highlight the importance of making EVs an affordable and economically attractive alternative to fossil fuel cars in order to accelerate adoption.Lower energy costs were one of the reasons 45 per cent of respondents said made them choose an EV.

At the same time, 58 per cent considered the purchase price of the car to be a barrier to EV adoption in their country.

“This is a clear message to policymakers who want to boost EV adoption: They need to implement consumer-focused policies aimed at making EVs the most affordable option,” says Ellen Hiep from the Dutch EV drivers’ association.

The Global EV Driver Survey 2025 was conducted by GEVA, a non-profit network of 70 national EV associations from 42 countries. 

The survey targeted EV drivers worldwide through an open online form. The primary distributors of the survey were national EV associations.GEVA said that to ensure the global results accurately reflect the views of EV drivers, responses were weighted based on each country’s share of the total EV fleet.

The survey was conducted in September and October.