A survey by DesperateSeller.co.uk has revealed that 30.9% of UK consumers simply don’t understand hybrid cars.
A poll on the used car website in July 2020 asked “What is a hybrid car?” and gave three options: a) One that can use at least two means of propulsion; b) One that does NOT have an internal combustion engine; and c) One that can run on both petrol and diesel fuels.
Of 1,190 respondents, 822 gave the correct answer, a – hybrid cars use two means of propulsion, a conventional engine and an electric motor. Worryingly though, almost one in three got the answer wrong, with 178 saying b and, staggeringly, 190 saying c.
Rod Joseph, director at DesperateSeller.co.uk, said, “It should be of huge concern to vehicle manufacturers, dealers and policymakers that such fundamental misconceptions are so widespread.
“After a decade on the market, the fact that 16% think hybrid means it can run both petrol and diesel is really quite astonishing, a devastating statistic. You can speculate about why – confusion around different hybrid technologies (HEV, PHEV, MHEV etc), the government lumping them in with petrol and diesel on the soon-to-be-banned list, the suspicion they’re merely a stopgap on the road to full electric, plus they’re not cheap.
“In the current ‘who knows?!’ economy, used buyers are minimising risk, hence the uplift in the sub-£10k category. The bottom line is that hybrid sales remain low and they’re in danger of becoming a white elephant – the Betamax of the transition to carbon-free motoring.”