From the Nissan LEAF to the Tesla Model S to the Chevy Volt, a battery of new electric cars are ready to surge onto the roads. But even as automakers race to secure their entrees to the market key questions about the vehicles remain.

WATCH VIDEO: Are You Falling for These Common Electric Car Myths?

Can electric cars achieve a functional range? Do they create new kinds of pollution? Could the jeapordize the country's electric grid? Can they be affordable?

Electric Cars: Battery Power Driving the Future

There's only one problem with these questions: They are based on long-held myths that don't reflect the realities of modern electric vehicles.

Planet 100 dispels the Top 5 electric car myths:

1. Range

Myth: EVs don't have much range, so be prepared to be stranded when you run out of electricity.

Fact: The average Americans drives 40 miles per day and most Battery Electric Vehicles have a range of at least double that and can be charged at any ordinary electrical outlet or publicly accessible station with a faster charger.

Read more:
Could Range Anxiety Sabotage the Promise of Electric Cars?
How Long Does it Take To Charge an Electric Car?

2. Pollution

Image credit: iStockphoto/Thinkstock

Myth: Electric cars pollute just as much as gas cars; all you are doing is replacing the tailpipe with a smokestack.

Fact: electric cars create much less pollution than even the cleanest gas or diesel cars currently available. That's mostly because moving power from batteries through an electric motor to the wheels is about twice as efficient as burning liquid fuel through an internal combustion engine and transmission.

Read more:
Are Electric Cars Built in a Green Way?
The Electric Cars Driving the Future (View and Vote)

3. Grid Crash

Image credit: Cameron Davidson/Getty Images

Myth: We'll bring down the grid if millions of plug-ins charge at once.

Fact: Almost all electric car charging will happen at home, and can be accomplished overnight during off-peak hours. Most estimates suggest that our current energy grid can easily keep up with growing electric car charging needs for at least the next decade.

Read more:
Will Solar Roads Change Electric Cars?
Understanding Electric Car Charging Stations

4. Batteries

Image credit: AP Photo/Uwe Lein

Myth: Battery chemicals are bad for the environment and they can't be recycled.

Fact: According to the EPA, ninety-nine percent of batteries in conventional cars are recycled. The metals in newer batteries are more valuable and recycling programs are already being developed for them. Utilities plan to use batteries for energy storage once they are no longer viable in a vehicle.

Read more:
What's Different About Electric Car Batteries?
Understanding Electric Car Charging Stations

5. Cost

Image credit: Getty Images

Myth: Plug-ins are too expensive for market penetration, it's only rich people who can afford to drive them.

Fact: Any new technology is initially more expensive – think PCs, cells phones and DVDs— but if there's enough demand, production volumes will go up and prices will come down. Especially with the government handing out $2,500 to $7,500 tax credits for EVs and PHEVs.

Read more:
Are Electric Cars Cheaper to Run?
Will Electric Car Repairs Be More Costly?
How Much Does It Cost to Charge an Electric Car?

12 Myths About Electric Vehicles
Are You an Expert? Take Our Green Car Quiz

Credits:
EV driving on the road ©Alan Thornton/Getty Images
EV charging ©Getty Images
Smoke stacks from generating electricity ©iStockphoto/Thinkstock
Regular car with exhaust fumes ©iStockphoto/Thinkstock
Energy grid ©Cameron Davidson/Getty Images
EV charging at home ©©Cosmo Condina/Getty Images
EV car batteries ©AP Photo/Uwe Lein
Regular car batteries ©iStockphoto/Thinkstock
Slick looking EV ©Getty Images
1980s cell phone ©iStockphoto/Thinkstock