1.5 million UK households in EV ‘sweet spot’

More than 1.5 million UK households are in an electric vehicle ‘sweet spot’, described as a combination of off-street parking for home-charging and at least one vehicle that never does more than 100 miles in a single journey.

This is according to a new study by Britain’s leading consumer champion and New Car Buying platform, What Car?.

What Car? approached 2,310 current electric vehicle owners and a further 23,500 non-EV owners to understand how they used their cars on an everyday basis.

This research found that 17% of multi-car households have at least one vehicle that never makes a journey of more than 100 miles. Overlaying these numbers with the percentage that has a driveway for home-charging (88%), What Car? calculated that 1.56m households – of the 27m in the UK – could convert to a pure electric vehicle without any compromises today. This figure is set to increase as charging infrastructure and electric vehicle range increases in future years.

Jim Holder, editorial director at What Car?, said, ‘Most drivers are aware of the drive towards electrification, but are uncertain whether the current cars and infrastructure can meet their needs: the evidence here shows that a significant proportion of households could make the switch without any compromise, and start enjoying the benefits of EVs – including travelling with zero emissions in near-silence, enjoying significant cost-savings through the year, and the potential for being free from congestion or clean air zone charges.’

To further support the arguments for purchasing an electric car, a surprising two-thirds of households that already have one, as well as a traditional petrol or diesel vehicle, say they now use the EV as their main vehicle.

Sales of new electric cars hit a total of 9489 for 2019 at the end of May – up more 60% year-on-year but still less than one per cent of the total market – bringing the total number of electric cars on UK roads to around 70,000.

Jim said, ‘While it is clear that there is more work to be done to make electric cars even more affordable, and to increase charging and range capabilities so that even more households can own them compromise-free, it is also evident that the manufacturers and infrastructure providers are further ahead in providing answers to consumers’ questions than is widely recognised.’