Brits underestimate EV benefits

New research published by Go Ultra Low¹ has revealed that there is a huge amount of misunderstanding within the British public when it comes to pure electric cars, with many unaware of the benefits around performance, charging and cost.

One of the biggest areas of confusion is whether you can put an electric car through a car wash. While this is no issue – just as with a petrol or diesel car – 42% of Brits admit they aren’t sure if this is an option for pure electric car owners.

As well as this, half of Brits (52%) think they wouldn’t be able to describe what a pure electric car is to someone else. Underestimating the performance is also commonplace. Nearly half (47%) think a petrol or diesel car accelerates quicker than a pure electric, even though, in many cases, the opposite is true.

Cost is a big area where people are also undervaluing their potential: 1 in 4 (25%) of Brits think that, over the lifetime of the car, maintenance costs are higher for pure electric cars than they are for petrol or diesel, when in fact a pure electric can cost around 70% less. Brits also believe it’s significantly more expensive to charge one than it actually is. On average, people think it costs £21.54 to fully charge a pure electric car, even though charging at home could cost as little as £3.643

Most underestimate the number of models available for purchase – the average Brit thinks there are just nine models currently available in the UK, nearly half the correct figure (17) – and 42% of Brits think there are fewer than 15,000 pure electric cars on UK roads when there are already nearly 40,000.

Many Brits don’t realise how many charge points there are throughout the UK. On average they think there are only 6,000 charge point connectors, when there are more than twice that amount, at around 17,000.

Poppy Welch, head of Go Ultra Low, said, ‘The research shows that there is much confusion and misunderstanding with the British public when it comes to pure electric cars…Dispelling these misconceptions and highlighting these perks is therefore vital if we are to see more motorists make the switch to electric motoring.’