For 53 per cent of people, the chief attraction of buying an electric vehicle is the lower running cost compared to a petrol or diesel vehicle, though significant concerns still remain about the initial purchase price, according to new data revealed by Carzone.ie.
Cost a bigger motivator than eco-cred
Using data gleaned from an analysis of the 77 million searches on its site this year as well as a survey of 2,082 people nationally, the figures revealed that most consumers have made some changes to their lifestyles in the name of sustainability (recycling, shopping locally, etc.) and that 56 per cent have considered purchasing an electric car. However, the main motivation on that front doesn't seem to be environmental, with the aforementioned 53 per cent of potential buyers claiming that lower running costs were a bigger incentive to make the switch than the environmental impact of which 30 per cent of those polled cited as a motivator.
Barriers to entry
Despite increasing public interest in electric vehicles, significant barriers to adoption still remain in place according to consumers. Of those surveyed, 69 per cent said that the comparably high purchase cost of an EV was a major concern, with 66 and 60 per cent of motorists mentioning availability and ease of charging, respectively. Electric vehicles remain more expensive than petrol or diesel models at present, and a number of industry sources, including those at carmaker Nissan, have said that they expect EVs to reach price parity with their combustion-engined equivalents by the middle or second half of the decade.
Growing market share
Concerns about purchase prices and infrastructure notwithstanding, interest in electric vehicles is strong and getting stronger: one in five new cars viewed on Carzone's website in the first half of 2022 were electric compared with one in ten new cars in the latter half of 2021.
That interest in EVs is also translating into sales figures with an astonishing rise in electric car sales of more than 96 per cent in 2022 compared to 2021, according to other data recently released by Carzone. It should be borne in mind, though, that car sales in 2021 were seriously depressed due to the Covid-19 pandemic and that EV sales figures are starting from a much smaller base level than petrol or diesel cars. According to the latest sales figures from the Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI), although petrol and diesel cars remain dominant with 28.22 and 26.87 per cent market share, battery-electric cars have increased their market share to 12.96 per cent.