Majority of motorists ‘likely to buy EV’ in ‘near future’ – Buyacar research reveals

Fresh evidence has emerged of the rapidly-growing appeal of electric vehicles for drivers, with a majority of motorists now saying they will consider one ‘in the near future’.

That’s according to research by the online car supermarket BuyaCar.co.uk, which is tracking the attitude of motorists to electric vehicle adoption.

It’s the first time a majority of car buyers have signalled that their switch to an EV is imminent.

The findings are also supported by a marked increase in interest in used electric vehicles on sale at BuyaCar.co.uk.

So far this year there has been a 40 per cent increase in searches for EVs across the BuyaCar website compared with the same period in 2020.

Typically, previous surveys of car buying intentions have revealed a slowly growing acceptance of the idea of going all electric, but this is the first time a majority of motorists have said that they are likely to switch soon.

Of the 422 motorists asked what type of car they are considering next, 51 per cent said they will consider an EV ‘in the near future’. Fewer than one in three drivers said that they were not interested in buying an electric car imminently while the remaining 18.7 per cent said that they have not yet started thinking about it.

Although EVs remain a minority purchase choice today from the 60,000+ cars typically available on BuyaCar.co.uk, analysts say that searches reveal consistently growing interest in abandoning the internal combustion engine and even hybrid cars in favour of electric vehicles.

Interest was boosted dramatically in the wake of Boris Johnson’s announcement last year that new petrol, diesel and hybrid cars would be banned from 2030, which led to a spike in used EVs being ordered from BuyaCar.co.uk.

But, although sales have settled back to a distant 4th place in fuel type choices, analysts point out that the active inclusion of electric vehicles in car buyers’ research today demonstrates that actively considering an EV has become a mainstream activity for more consumers than ever before.

Christofer Lloyd, Editor of BuyaCar.co.uk, said: “Clearly the switch to EVs will not happen overnight and relying entirely on sales data can be misleading because today’s sales fail to reflect the growing underlying interest in electric cars.

“But a 40 per cent increase in searches – even from an initially low level – is clear evidence that an EV is now certainly in the mix for a rapidly growing number of people during their initial car buying research.

“It seems clear that last year’s government announcement of the end for new internal combustion engines has boosted EVs into the mainstream in terms of the initial options considered by our customers.”