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A survey from the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU) by FocalData has found that 74% of British adults believe the phase-out of petrol-fuelled cars is due to happen sooner than is actually the case.
Nearly half the respondents (45%) said they thought that petrol and diesel cars would be phased out within the next seven years, but in fact, it will not be until 2035 that the government plans to phase out the sale of new hybrid cars that can be filled with fuel at a petrol station and are not dependent on electric chargers to drive, the ECIU said.
Significantly, more than two-thirds (68%) of respondents underestimated the number of drivers who have access to off-street parking and thus would theoretically be able to charge their cars at home – and benefit from EV tariffs.. The ECIU noted that cheap EV-charging tariffs would allow an electric Nissan Leaf to be driven for less than 2p/mile, compared to over 13p/mile for an equivalent petrol Nissan Juke.
Almost half (44%) of respondents thought that owning an EV is more expensive than a petrol car, when the reality is that many EVs are cheaper to own and operate. The ECIU found that a four-year-old second-hand Nissan Leaf would, over the remaining 10 years of its life, save over £8,000 in total ownership costs compared to a Nissan Juke.
Colin Walker, ECIU Heat of Transport, said:
The British public are being confused. Firstly by hype suggesting the phaseout date for new petrol and diesel cars is much sooner than it really is. Secondly, by suggesting EVs are more expensive to own and operate than their petrol equivalents. You’ll still be able to buy a new car you can fuel with petrol until 2035, giving us more than a decade to build up the charging infrastructure for those making the switch in the next 12 years. Many would suggest we are talking the country down if we don’t think the UK can do that – particularly with the charging industry committing an extra £6bn in investment.
He added that EVs are much cheaper to fuel and own:
Charging at home makes an EV many times cheaper to fuel. Only a complete reliance on expensive rapid chargers – a highly unrealistic scenario – would render an EV more expensive to fuel than a petrol vehicle.
The ECIU noted that industry sales figures show growing demand for EVs, with almost one in five new cars sold in June a battery electric vehicle – up 40% year on year.
The Government’s phase out dates will allow new hybrids to be on sale until 2035. However the ECIU noted that the Climate Change Committee’s recent Progress Report to Parliament reported that carbon savings from plug-in hybrid (PHEV) cars are around three to five times lower in the real world than previously assumed.
Quentin Willson, founder of the FairCharge campaign group, said:
The current misinformation from pockets of the mainstream media is wildly distorting the real facts about EV ownership…Over 80% of EV owners charge their cars while they sleep…At the same time, the public charging infrastructure is growing at a considerable speed – just look at companies such as Gridserve, Osprey and Instavolt as leaders in the field bedding in best practice…With 1.2 million plug-in cars already on UK roads, there is clearly a sizeable body of drivers who don’t agree with the anti-EV rhetoric we read in some newspapers. Instead they have successfully and happily folded electric cars into their daily lives – some now even balancing the grid with V2G technology. True energy independence and security, it’s their voices we must listen to.
