Sales of alternative fuelled vehicles are soaring.
The latest figures show sales of hybrid and pure electric cars are up 14.7% on the year so far - with more people now thinking about buying an at least part-electric car than a diesel one.
Research from GoCompare Car Insurance shows 27% of motorists would choose to buy an alternatively fuelled car, if they were to buy a new car today. That compares to just 18% who said they would favour a diesel car.
And sales of diesel cars in particular are stalling - with 20% fewer new diesels registered in the first 3 months of 2019 compared with the year before.
But while sales are soaring, alternatively fuelled cars are still a small part of the market overall - making up just 5.5% of sales in March.
And one of the things holding back sales could well be a series of rather odd beliefs people still have about them.
Martin Milliner, claims director at LV General Insurance said: “There is still a huge amount of confusion about what owning one actually means."
To try and combat that confusion, LV rounded up
Are all diesel drivers now due compensation for being 'mis-sold'?
1. Electric cars aren’t as powerful
More than half the public (55%) think electric cars aren't as powerful as petrol or diesel ones.
They're wrong - in fact electric cars can generate power faster and most accelerate more quickly than their petrol or diesel equivalents.
In fact, the fastest road car on the planet is an electric car, revealed at the Geneva Motor Show.
2. Electric car batteries need to be replaced every five years
Almost one person in four (23%) thinks they'll need to swap an electric car's battery after five years.
It's not true though, current models are designed to last at least 10 years and perhaps even 20 before needing to be replaced.
More than that, many manufacturers offer long warranties to prove how sure they are the battery will last.
3. Electric cars are more expensive to run
One person in four (25%) said they wouldn’t buy an electric car because the running costs were too high.
In fact, drivers overestimated the running cost of an electric car by at least 100% - with the Energy Savings Trust calculating electric cars can run for 100 miles at a cost of £4 to £6, compared with £13 to £164 for a petrol or diesel car.
They're also exempt from road tax if they cost less than £40,000, and can escape things like London’s Congestion Charge too.
4. You can’t drive an electric car on a motorway
About one person in eight (12%) thinks electric cars are banned from the motorway.
They're not.
In fact, they're even free to charge in a lot of the time after Ecotricity put 145 public charging stations at motorway and A-road services around the UK.
What they don't tell you about hybrid and electric cars
5. You can’t put an electric car through a car wash
Almost one person in five (18%) thinks you can’t put an electric car through a car wash.
Of course you can - it’s just as safe to take an electric car through a car wash as it is a normal car.
6. Electric cars shouldn’t be used during heavy rain
One person in eight (12%) thinks electric cars can't be driven in the rain - they can.
Electric cars are extensively tested by their manufacturers and before being sold are put through a soak test.
Even the chargers are weatherproof - with all charge points going through rigorous safety testing too before being installed.
