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UK Motorists Don’t Fancy Electric Cars, Survey Shows

Even if more than 40,000 electric cars have invaded UK’s roads lately, compared to just 3,500 two years ago, a new survey conducted by insurance broker company Adrian Flux reveals that only three percent of motorists would change their gasoline- or diesel-powered cars for an electric one.
Just 3% of motorists would buy an electric car, survey shows 1 photo
Photo: Adrian Flux
Electric vehicles have improved a lot in recent years, and carmakers found new ways to introduce more practical and affordable vehicles on the market. The government also encourages people to buy an emission-free car by giving grants of up to 5,000 pounds towards the cost of a new vehicle, as well as promising road tax and London congestion charge exemptions.

Despite all of this, more than 73 percent of the 1,784 motorists surveyed have said they are not planning to buy such a car, and 23 percent are still undecided.

Around 19 percent of them gave range anxiety and fear of running out of charge while traveling as main reasons why they don’t want to get all eco-friendly. Thirty-five percent said they got used to their gasoline or diesel cars too much to make the switch.

More than 22 percent of the respondents blamed the high costs of a new vehicle, and 7 percent raised concerns about the cost of replacing the batteries.

While some highlighted the dangers of embracing new technology too early, some questioned the environmental benefit of electric cars.

According to Gerry Bucke, general manager at Flux, “Many of the people who took our survey said that they felt electric vehicles, or, at least, hybrids, would one day be commonplace on our roads, but most thought there were still many hurdles for manufacturers to jump before that happened.” He also said that “Despite an increased number of charging points in the UK, many motorists still suffer from range anxiety, which is something that won’t disappear until chargers are as widespread as petrol stations.

This survey comes not long after Continental commissioned a study about the impact of self-driving cars on people, and revealed that three in five UK drivers worry about the safety of driverless vehicles, while 51 percent of the surveyed were concerned about how the technology could fail and said they feared that the vehicles would break down.
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