Over Half Of New Car Buyers Consider Going Electric

Over half of new car buyers would consider choosing an electric car in the next two years. Research conducted by Aurora Market Research for Chargemaster Plc, the UK’s leading provider of electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure, reveals that 58% of respondents who said that they are planning to buy a new car over the next two years would consider ‘going electric’. This increased to over three quarters (77%) of those in the 25 – 34 year range and 81% of respondents who live in London. Londoners had by far the most positive response to the idea of owning an electric vehicle.

Despite recent press commentary about the slower than anticipated growth of consumer demand for electric vehicles over the last 12 months, future expectations within the automotive industry are very different. Some 29 new cars powered by electricity are about to come on the road from manufacturers such as BMW, Ford, Vauxhall, Renault and Volvo over the next 18 months and this survey further demonstrates that the public has started to take the electric option seriously.

An issue of concern, however, is the lack of a national charging infrastructure, with 83% of people survey saying this would negatively affect their decision to buy an electric vehicle. However, 78% of respondents felt that if at least 40 public charging points were in place in their local town and in supermarkets, shopping centres, railway stations and public car parks, this would positively affect the likelihood of buying an electric car.

This increased to some 91% of respondents who live in the London area showing that more needs to be done in providing charging points in the capital.

Chargemaster’s POLAR network allows electric vehicle owners to charge wherever they are, with a membership providing a HomeCharge wall box, access to POLAR’s public network of over 4,000 charging points, which are being installed over the next 12 months, access to discounted and green EV tariffs from a range of utilities and other member benefits including discounts on parking, hotels and restaurants.

David Martell, Chief Executive, Chargemaster Plc, said: ‘’With a number of major car manufacturers close to launching and promoting their EV ranges to the mass market, it is has become increasingly clear that consumers are now seriously considering purchasing an EV. The survey does also highlight that car buyers remain concerned about the lack of charging infrastructure in the UK when considering purchasing an electric vehicle. Chargemaster is currently working towards solving this issue via the installation of our POLAR network, the UK’s first nationwide network of charging infrastructure. The availability of more charging options will play a critical part in encouraging these consumers to make a positive decision to go electric.”

The survey sampled 1032 people across the country. For more information or images, please contact Ashleigh Lezard/Jamie Hooper at Abchurch Communications on: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Chargemaster is the premier supplier of electric vehicle charging solutions in the UK and Europe. Its partners and customers include: Transport for London (TfL), Hertz, Enterprise Rentacar, Europcar, Waitrose, Asda, Sainsbury, SSE, British Gas, EDF, Vinci Energies, East of England PiP and over 15 local authorities across the UK.

Chargemaster Plc has recently won a significant contract to install up to 1,000 charging units in Amsterdam over the next two years.
Chargemaster Plc charging units have been tested and validated by all current manufacturers of electric vehicles.
Stringent European New Car CO² targets as specified in Regulation (EC) No 443/2009 will increasingly impose heavy fines on motor manufacturers who do not meet CO² targets. This mandates the introduction of a range of ultra-low carbon plug in cars. This regulatory framework will enforce a programme whereby by 2020 new cars will emit 40% less CO² than they did in 2007.
The UK government stated goal is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 50% by 2027 and 80% by 2050 across the UK economy including road transport.
By 2020 government targets require that 30% of all electricity will be generated by renewable sources.
Electric vehicles also improve air quality having no “tailpipe”. UK government states that experts estimate that in 2008 reduced life expectancy caused by human made fine particulate matter reduced life expectancy by six months.
Chargemaster’s technical and management team led by David Martell has over 25 years’ experience in developing and managing telematics and motoring orientated infrastructures. This was largely developed through its work at Trafficmaster which saw the roll out of over 6,000 traffic detection sites in England, Scotland and Wales.
For more information on Chargemaster please visit: www.chargemasterplc.com
For more information on the POLAR network please go to: www.polarnetwork.com