According to the “Driving Away From Fossil Fuels” report, 100 percent of the 2,000 car buyers in the UK indicated they would opt for an electric vehicle if they were sold for the same price as equivalent conventional cars. The data, commissioned by EV campaign group FairCharge, looked at drivers’ underlying preferences by comparing vehicle attributes, costs and specifications.
Just under half of drivers (47 percent) would choose an EV today if there was price parity between electrified vehicles and conventional petrol or diesel vehicles.
This is not forecast to happen until later in the decade, with experts predicting that it could happen within the next five years.
The 47 percent of consumers who would now choose a BEV at price parity represents a seismic change from previous iterations of the survey.
In 2011, less than one percent of consumers would have bought an EV at price parity, rising to just two percent four years later.
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Crucially, the survey finds that earlier deployment of public charging infrastructure will not significantly impact consumer demand for EVs.
This is because 81 percent of new car buyers surveyed have access to some form of off-street parking.
The finding that charging infrastructure will not affect demand for new EVs cuts against claims made by some car manufacturers that policies such as the ban on new petrol and diesels from 2030 need to be scrapped due to a lack of public charging infrastructure.
Simon Williams, EV spokesperson for the RAC, which is a founding supporter of FairCharge, also called on the Government to make accessibility to EVs better.
He added: “We know from RAC research the high upfront costs of EVs continues to be a major barrier to uptake, so it’s very encouraging to know that drivers would switch to an electrified car without hesitation if they cost the same as an equivalent petrol or diesel model.
“While the Government has been bold in setting the 2030 date for the end of the sale of new petrol and diesel cars and vans, much needs to be done to bring new EVs down in price so they are accessible to all drivers.
“We believe the early removal of the plug-in car grant earlier this month was a mistake. Even though the grant had been reduced, it had helped successfully encouraged manufacturers to produce more EVs at a lower price point.
“Without it there is far less incentive for manufacturers to concentrate on this end of the market which is a crying shame for non-company car drivers who really want to go electric but can’t afford it.”
Both FairCharge and the RAC have called on the Government to abolish the VAT differential between public EV charging and home charging.
A 20 percent rate of VAT is charged on public chargers, compared to just five percent on home chargers.
The organisations say fairer charging prices would help drivers make the switch and ensure that those without off-street charging aren’t left behind.
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