Electric Car Grant sparks EV surge
Interest in electric cars has spiked since the introduction of the Electric Car Grant, with more than 4.5 million views of EV adverts on Auto Trader.
This represents a rise of 20%, or 750,000 views, compared to the previous quarter.
Overall enquiries for new electric vehicles have risen 44% since the Electric Car Grant was introduced three months ago, with interest in models eligible for the grant rising 118% and interest in ineligible models rising by 24%.
Meanwhile, views on models under £30,000 rose by 27%, with the most popular Electric Car Grant model, the Renault 5 E-tech, attracting almost 175,000 advert views alone.
A total of 28 electric vehicles are now eligible for the Electric Car Grant, with more than 20 brands launching their own equivalent offers. This has seen the price gap between electric cars and petrol models narrow from 34% in 2023 to just19%.
Jump in traffic
Ian Plummer, commercial director, said: “The Electric Car Grant has clearly fired the imagination of consumers as we can see from the big jump in traffic on our marketplace for eligible models – particularly at the affordable end of the spectrum.
“Potential switchers have already seen a big rise in choice since 2019 but the grant is helping to close the affordability gap and sparking greater competition across the market, making electric driving a realistic option for far more people.
“There is clear momentum toward electrification, not just in sales, but in the breadth of choice and innovation across brands and price points.”
