Government still underestimating PHEV benefits

The government has massively underestimated the benefits of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, and isn’t doing enough to drive the evolution to zero-emission vehicles.

These are some of the findings of a new survey undertaken by Kadence International, a global market research company, on behalf of Mitsubishi Motors.

It found that while few doubt that the future of motoring involves electric vehicles, not enough is being done to build consumer confidence and acceptance in the short term. Currently, around one per cent of new car buyers opt for pure electric vehicles, while at the same time transport emissions and air quality continue to worsen.

PHEVs present an opportunity to introduce people to electric motoring, while also addressing the short term pollution issues, but the government has turned its back on the technology because of misconceptions about what motivates people to buy them.

The government has, for example, completely withdrawn the Plug-in Car Grant and offers no VED benefits for PHEVs compared to more polluting vehicles.

However a recent survey of drivers of the UK’s most popular PHEV, the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV, has shown that fuel economy and running costs are the primary reasons for choosing a PHEV.

It showed that fuel economy was amongst the most important deciding factors for 86% of Outlander PHEV owners, closely followed by running costs for 85% of drivers and environmental friendliness for 81%.

The survey also reveals that 90% of Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV owners surveyed charge their vehicles at least two to three times per week, with 68% charging every day.

Mitsubishi Motors in the UK is calling on the government to be more inclusive of gateway technologies and to incentivise private buyers to make the first step away from pure petrol or diesel power by lowering running costs and rolling out more on-street and residential charging for people without driveways.