US EditionMost People Believe Misinformation About Electric Vehicles, International Survey Finds
- Research led by the University of Queensland and featured in Nature Energy revealed that in Australia, the US, Germany, and Austria, a greater number of people accept misinformation about electric vehicles than reject it.
- Researchers identified conspiracy mentality, not education level, as the strongest predictor of endorsing false claims about EVs, linking it to mistrust and opposition to science-backed technologies.
- Widespread false beliefs about EVs include that they catch fire more frequently than petrol cars, fail to reduce emissions, emit harmful electromagnetic fields, and have batteries purposely designed to prevent upgrades—claims that research has clearly debunked.
- Providing fact sheets and non-curated dialogues with AI tools like ChatGPT significantly reduced endorsement of EV misinformation and increased support for EV policies and purchase intentions, with effects lasting at least 10 days.
- The widespread acceptance of false information creates considerable obstacles to advancing sustainable transportation worldwide, emphasizing the importance of combining fact-based communication with AI-driven solutions.
15 Articles
15 Articles
Mapping, understanding and reducing belief in misinformation about electric vehicles
Misinformation about electric vehicles (EVs) poses significant challenges to the global transition to energy efficient transportation. We investigated the prevalence of misinformation about EVs, predictors of misinformation endorsement and two potential interventions for reducing its impact. Surveys across four countries (Studies 1 and 2, N = 6,341) revealed that more respondents agreed with misinformation statements about EVs than disagreed wit…
Most people believe misinformation about electric vehicles, international survey finds
More people believe misinformation about electric vehicles (EVs) than disagree with it, according to surveys of four countries, including Australia, Germany, Austria, and the US. The survey found having a conspiracy mentality was the main factor influencing such beliefs, the authors say.
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Bias Distribution
- 44% of the sources are Center
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