We’re delighted to publish our second set of findings from our ‘UK Car Survey’.
After receiving over 650 surveys up to and including Monday 7th August, we wanted to publish the first set of key findings from non-EV owners.
Following a lot of unsubstantiated and clearly biased news articles over the last 6-12 months, Electric Road wanted to get a real snapshot of current opinions on the electric car & wider UK EV market from both existing & non-EV owners.
We will publish the ongoing findings on a regular basis and assess how the responses are changing over time. We have decided to split publishing the initial findings into those from existing EV owners and those from non-EV owners. After presenting the findings from existing EV owners last week, we now wanted to highlight the first set of findings from non-EV owners. These first set of non-EV owner findings are based on 120 surveys.
The total number of responses will be different for two questions where we allowed multiple answers. These questions will be indicated below with (unsurprisingly) ‘multiple answers’.
Exposure to EVs
Motivating factors to purchase (multiple answers)
Concerns or barriers (multiple answers)
Environmental impact
71% of respondents are either not concerned or indifferent to the environmental impact of ICE cars. This does feel fairly representative to us of wider society, sad as that may seem.
Graph
Perception of reliability & durability
The positive to be taken from these results is that 33% of non-EV owners believe EVs to be more reliable & durable than their ICE counterparts. Conversely, 42% of non-EV owners believe EVs to be less reliable & durable.
Graph
Fuel type for next car
It’s great to see 31% will be looking to switch to electric for their next car while 50% of respondents will still want to purchase a petrol or diesel car. We believe for many, a fossil-fuelled car is convenient and a known entity. We will have a mixed economy of cars for many, many years on UK roads and change will be accelerated when there’s more parity on price and a charging infrastructure that delivers for all.
Conclusion
While it is still a relatively small survey base, it’s evident that correct information & knowledge are key in giving non-EV owners the confidence & trust to purchase their first electric car. Clearly, EVs are a big purchase, be that via monthly payments or bought outright and the charging infrastructure isn’t good enough yet to give the reassurance that all public charging experiences will be without problems.
We think for some people, until public charging is as (relatively as) convenient as putting petrol or diesel in a car, an EV won’t be for them. However, outside of the key factors of current prices & the current charging infrastructure, it’s great to see that a lot of non-EV owners view EVs in a positive light which can only bode well for the future.
