East Midlands drivers in the EV switch slow lane

Asked what type of car they imagine they would be driving in 2030, the survey found that almost half (42%) of East Midlands drivers thought they would be behind the wheel of a purely petrol or diesel powered car. The national average is about one in three (34%).

Looking further ahead, to 2035, and still more than a third (34%) of East Midlands drivers envisage themselves driving a petrol or diesel ICE (Internal Combustion Engine) car. The national average was a quarter (25%) of drivers.

For those East Midlands drivers who do think they will be driving an EV in 2030 or 2035, the clear preference is for a fully battery electric vehicle (20% in 2030, 26% in 2035) over a plug-in hybrid (13% in 2030, 9% in 2035).

East Midlands drivers expecting to buy a second hand car next are more likely to buy a used plug-in hybrid (12%) than a used fully battery electric vehicle (9%). Two thirds (67%) think they will buy a second hand purely petrol or diesel powered car.

Daniel Forsberg, Marketing Manager EVSE at the EV chargepoint manufacturer CTEK, said: “East Midlands drivers look set to be in the slow lane for electric mobility, with high numbers imagining their motoring will still be powered purely by petrol or diesel.

“The UK Government and the regional mayors and councils can do more to entice drivers to move from petrol or diesel to electricity, including by massively expanding the availability of public charging so ICE drivers feel confident that if they do switch to an EV they can charge easily and conveniently.”

Nationally, the survey found drivers in their 30s look set to spearhead the switch to EVs. The survey reveals 30 to 39-year-olds are the generation most primed to buy EV and ditch petrol and diesel first.

The survey found almost two thirds (61%) of drivers currently in their 30s foresee they will be driving an EV in the year 2035, when they will be in their 40s. Only one in six (17%) thirty-somethings think they will still be driving an ICE (purely petrol or diesel) vehicle in a decade’s time. The rest don’t know.

Even by 2030, a majority (59%) of what CTEK is terming ‘Generation E’ will be driving a Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV) or a hybrid. Just over a fifth (21%) think they will be driving an ICE car.

Daniel Forsberg said: “We’re calling UK drivers in their 30s ‘Generation E’ because they are leading the way in practically every question we asked in our nationally representative survey.

“We suspect there are several factors at play in this. People in their 30s are likely to have both the financial means to be able to choose electric and the environmental and climate awareness to want to do so. Not far behind them are the 18 to 29-year-olds, who are the second age group most set to go EV.

“In contrast, it is the older generations aged 55 and above who are least likely to switch, in spite of probably being financially able to. They are, we suspect, more wedded to fossil fuels after decades of driving ICE cars.

“Overall the survey results point to a rapidly approaching future of mass adoption of electric mobility, especially by the younger generations. This suggests millions more EVs on the UK roads in just a few years, begging the question: where will they all charge? The roll-out of public charging must accelerate to keep pace with the huge demand our survey results suggest will emerge.”