Do you think electric cars are causing potholes in the UK? This is what’s really happening

EV advocates have been forced to contend with a number of myths and misconceptions raised by critics of the technology over the past decade.

Despite the rise in popularity of electric vehicles (EVs), one of the most persistent claims is that they are responsible for Britain’s pothole crisis.

Several articles and columns in the press have suggested that since electric vehicles are typically heavier than their gasoline counterparts due to their batteries, they must cause more damage to roads.

But car groups and experts said I that this idea is “stupid and ridiculous” – a false assumption based on a failure to understand the real causes of the pothole epidemic.

The AA said the belief that electric cars were to blame for the deplorable state of the country’s roads was “a myth that desperately needs to be debunked”.

Quentin Wilson, former Top Gear Presenter, disappointed that the pothole claim is still circulating online among those skeptical of the rise in popularity of electric vehicles.

“It’s a myth that, unfortunately, has gained real traction even though it’s clearly not true,” said the TV presenter, founder of the FairCharge campaign to make electric cars more affordable.

He cites a 2022 University of Edinburgh study which he says shows additional damage will be “overwhelmingly caused by large vehicles – buses, heavy goods vehicles (HGVs)” if batteries replace fossil fuels.

Passenger vehicles of all types make only a “negligible contribution,” according to the study.

Wilson said: “This shows that the damage caused to roads by passenger cars is negligible compared to the damage caused by tankers, garbage trucks and so on.”

He added: “There are 1.2 million electric vehicles on our roads compared to 41 million combustion engine vehicles. So how can electric vehicles cause the pothole crisis we have? Electric cars take away from the conversation about how we solve the problem.”

Robert Llewellyn, host of the YouTube channel Fully Charged about electric cars, said blaming electric cars is “ridiculous.”

The broadcaster added: “All vehicles reduce potholes in some way, and HGVs contribute the most to this. But blaming electric cars is as stupid as blaming SUVs or any particular type of car – it’s bias based on nothing.”

Brussels-based sustainable transport group Transport and Environment says electric vehicles are on average 300-400kg heavier than their petrol and diesel counterparts.

However, an October study from the University of Technology Sydney (UTS), which looked at the ten best-selling electric and fossil fuel cars in Australia, found battery-powered cars were only 68kg heavier.

Llewellyn said manufacturers are finding ways to reduce the weight of electric vehicles. “Yes, electric cars were generally heavier, but only by the weight of a person. And this won’t be true for a long time. Some electric vehicles are now lighter than their gasoline equivalents.”

Earlier this year Daily mail corrected an article that claimed electric cars were helping to bring Britain’s crumbling roads to a breaking point.

He suggested the Asphalt Industry Alliance (AIA) report pointed the finger at electric vehicles and their heavy lithium-ion batteries.

In fact, the AIA’s March 2024 report only talked about “increasing average vehicle weights on a deteriorating network,” without identifying any specific vehicle type.

The real point of the report was a lack of funds to repair potholes and upgrade roads – a “continuing deterioration of the situation” was blamed on a lack of government investment.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves promised an extra £500 million for road repairs in last month’s Budget.

But the AIA’s 2024 report says years of cuts to council budgets have meant the amount needed to clear the road repair backlog in England and Wales has risen to a record £16.3 billion.

The RAC estimates there are now over a million potholes in the UK.

Motoring group chief executive Simon Williams said blaming electric vehicles was a “distraction” from “too long a lack of preventive maintenance on our roads”.

The RAC expert added: “The government needs to provide more funding, but we really need to encourage councils to do more maintenance with the money they have.”

Jack Cousins, head of road policy at the AA, said it was “unfair and wrong” to blame potholes on electric cars. “This is a myth that desperately needs to be debunked.

“The reality is that it is the large objects – buses, trucks, utility vehicles, garbage trucks – that cause asphalt pavement defects. And when water gets in and it freezes, it expands and contracts, and that’s what creates potholes.”

Cousins ​​laid the blame at the feet of both local and central government. He said most councils were carrying out “fix and run” work, which involved filling some potholes, rather than focusing on comprehensive resurfacing of local road networks.

“The reason we have so many potholes is because we don’t maintain our road network well enough. This was not a political priority.”

He added: “They irritate drivers. And they can be fatal for those who ride on two wheels. We’ve seen coroner’s reports where they wrote to local authorities and said, “Inadequate pothole maintenance contributed to this accident.”

Llewellyn said he gets jealous whenever he travels to mainland Europe and says many countries have “incredibly smooth” roads. “In the Cotswolds, where I live, there are places that are catastrophically bad. There hasn’t been enough money for a long time.”

However, not everyone is completely ignoring the impact of electric vehicles. Britpave – the British Cement Pavements Association – has warned that heavier electric vehicles could worsen the problem of poorly maintained roads.

Chairman Joe Quirk said the country’s roads needed to be made “strong enough to support the extra weight of electric vehicles”.

Critics of electric vehicles also point to other practical problems. Charging infrastructure isn’t expanding fast enough, they argue, leaving some people waiting in line for hours or facing potential breakdowns if nearby chargers fail.

Llewellyn said many of the most disappointing claims about electric cars – that they can’t travel far enough or are much more expensive than petrol cars – once had some truth to them but are now completely outdated.

But the pothole myth? It’s just a “stupid, swinely ignorant idea” that needs to finally be put to bed, the presenter said.

The government has been contacted for comment.