Autovia reveals what’s most helping or hindering electrification of Britain’s roads

Cheaper running costs rather than benefits to the environment topped the list of reasons for motorists considering an electric vehicle over the past two years, according to new research.

The finding comes from a raft of unique insights into the car buying process and motorists’ choices just revealed by Autovia, Britain’s leading publisher of automotive advice and information.

Autovia’s comprehensive Driver Power Shopper study, drawn from the opinions and behaviour of up to 60,000 participants a year, gets under the skin of why drivers chose the cars they bought over the past two years.

Despite environmental benefits being typically touted by the government as the best reason to go electric, Autovia’s Driver Power Shopper research confirms that running costs is ranked as the top reason to buy an EV by most people.

But economic considerations also top the reasons for holding back on buying an EV, with ‘too expensive to buy’ cited by most car buyers who bought a different type of car over the past two years.

However, range anxiety remains a tough challenge for the industry. Although purchase cost was a factor mentioned by more people who didn’t choose an EV than any other issue, distance/range limitations was listed as the biggest worry overall.

And in a sign that diehard internal combustion engine fans may be especially hard to convert, 25% of people admit that they still have an emotional attachment to petrol and diesel engines.

The research also underlines the need to maximise publicity around the rapid growth in Britain’s charging point network because 17% of people who chose not to go electric for their current car cited too few charge points as their main reason.

Only this week Driver Power revealed Britain’s best EV charging point networks, as rated by thousands of drivers. Autovia’s flagship title Auto Express concluded from the research that some of the biggest and more well-known charging networks will be disappointed to see that their operations need work. Auto Express also noted that the primary provider of universally-available charge points was ranked last by users among a total of nine networks.

Autovia editor-in-chief, Steve Fowler, said: “The growing impetus among consumers to want to buy an electric vehicle is well documented, but the reasons they didn’t choose an EV as their latest car are important for the industry to understand.

“Clearly the upfront cost of EVs and worries about charging remain the biggest obstacles but the depth of our latest research also reveals signs of hope for the EV sector.

“For example, only one in four people who initially considered an EV or a hybrid in the past 24 months went on to buy something else – typically a petrol car. And although 60% of drivers did not even consider an EV or a hybrid last time, those who plan to buy one next time are now in the majority.

“More good news for EV makers comes from the fact that, despite initial purchase prices putting many people off an EV over the past two years, they are increasingly perceived as cheaper to run. Lower running costs are cited most often as the top reason for considering an EV, which suggests consumers are becoming more confident in EVs.”