Newly released research from Geotab, the world’s leading telematics company, people in Greater London are keener than those in any other UK region on purchasing an electric car. With more than three quarters of respondents in the area who are looking to buy a new car (76%) planning on purchasing an electric or hybrid vehicle, Greater London scores fifteen percentage points higher than the next highest scoring region, the East Midlands.
The research also suggests some key reasons why Londoners are so enthusiastic on the subject. The city’s ULEZ charge appears to be playing a major role, with ‘avoiding low emissions zone charges’ being selected as a main appealing factor by 29% of respondents, compared to 19% nationally. Even more significant, however, is London’s charging infrastructure: 38% of Londoners agreed or strongly agreed that their local area has good public EV charging infrastructure, compared to 21% nationally. This is supported by data from ZapMap which shows that Greater London enjoys 11.3 charging points per square mile, while the next best equipped region, the South East, has just 0.5 charging points per square mile.
However, there are nonetheless signs of concern in Londoners’ responses to the survey. While they were bullish about London’s progress, 73% said that the country as a whole needs to do more to increase the number of electric vehicles on the road – the highest rate in the country. Greater London respondents also had the highest rate of concern about electric vehicle safety, with 14% citing it as a key concern. Further results from the survey include:
- Nationally, 41% cited reducing their impact on the climate as a key motivator for buying an EV, compared to 45% for lowering running costs and 37% for lowering tax costs. On factors which would dissuade them from buying an EV, 42% of respondents with concerns expressed range anxiety and 32% worried about where they would charge their vehicle.
- 23% of Greater London residents who are thinking about their next car expect it to be fully electric; the next highest figure is 14% in the car manufacturing heartland of the North East.
- At 36%, Greater London residents had the lowest level of concern in the country about how far electric vehicles will travel on a charge – which is backed up by the fact that they have some of the shortest commute distances in the country, with 42% reporting a journey length of under 10 miles.
