EU buyers still cool on EVs

A new survey from Bloomberg Intelligence (BI) has revealed that EU manufacturers’ EV objectives appear optimistic, with just 16% of respondents planning to buy a car in the next 12 months opting for a BEV.

That contrasts with ambitious government targets and may force a watering down of commitments to phase out ICE sales.

Michael Dean, senior autos analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, said: “Europeans continue to favour internal combustion engine (ICE) models – including hybrids – and not the battery electric vehicles (BEVs) promoted by policymakers, posing a potential stumbling block to pure-plays like Tesla. The lack of charging stations and range top concerns, with high prices and falling subsidies also deterrents.”

There were only 690,000 public charge points throughout Europe last year, but more than 1.4 million will be needed by 2025 to keep pace with demand.

Meanwhile, 83% of respondents said EVs were too expensive, with 19% saying they would not buy an EV until prices were dramatically lower.

The survey also found that long lag times were putting car buyers off, with 45% of buyers unwilling to wait more than three months for delivery, and almost 80% unprepared wait for over six months.