Electric car ownership is the right choice for at least 1.5 million UK households today, according to What Car?
That’s the number of multi-car homes in the UK with a sweet-spot combination of off-street parking for home-charging and at least one vehicle that never does more than 100 miles in a single journey.
What Car? approached 2310 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.
“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,” said Jim Holder, editorial director at What Car?
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.