Electric vehicles

• More environmentally friendly
• Produce significantly less tail pipe emissions than petrol and diesel vehicles
• Easier and cheaper to maintain
• Not as noisy
• When recharged from renewable electricity, they produce zero tail pipe emissions

EVs are powered by an electric battery so, unlike petrol or diesel vehicles, they don't produce any tailpipe emissions.

WA's electricity generation mix fluctuates daily. In 2021, 15.4 per cent of WA's electricity was generated by renewables, with the remaining generation made up of natural gas (57.2 per cent), coal (21.8 per cent), and oil (5.6 per cent).

Recent European research indicates that EVs outperform diesel and petrol passenger vehicles, across all electricity generation makeups; and even on heavily carbon intensive grids. EVs charged by the average European electricity profile ‘repay their “carbon debt”’ after a year and can save over 30 tonnes of CO₂ across their lifetime when compared to an equivalent non-electric vehicle. Taxis, on-demand ride share and shared vehicles – vehicles that travel significantly greater distances – can save up to 85 tonnes over their lifetime.

EVs use one or more electric motors for propulsion, and are recharged by plugging in to an external power source.

Some EVs are powered by electricity alone while others, such as plug-in hybrids, use a combination of electricity and liquid fuel, such as unleaded petrol. Other low emission vehicles use a fuel cell to convert hydrogen to electricity to power the engine, emitting only heat and water as by-products.

The range electric vehicles can travel has increased in recent years up to 700kms on a single charge. However most EVs on the market in Australia are able to travel between 250km to 500km on one charge.

No, electric vehicles have in-built safety features to prevent the risk of electrocution even if travelling through deep water or when flooded.

The RAC Electric Highway® features 16 locations in Western Australia, including 12 ultra-rapid or fast charging options supported by the Chargefox network.

Across Australia and the globe, plugshare.com will help you locate all available EV chargers.