2 in 5 drivers admit they don’t understand electric cars
A new study has found that more than 40% of UK drivers rate their understanding of electric cars as poor or very poor.
The poll by Peugeot exposed clear generational and regional gaps when it came to knowledge around plug-in technology, EV charging times and government support for businesses.
A lack of understanding around EVs and belief in outdated and misleading information is seen as one of the biggest barriers to EV adoption as the UK gets closer to phasing out petrol and diesel cars.
The study, conducted by OnePoll on behalf of the French car maker, found that across all drivers 43% rated their own understanding of pure electric and hybrid vehicles as poor or very poor. Just a quarter (23%) felt they had a good or very good grasp of the electrified car sphere.
A similar survey carried out in 2023 around petrol and diesel cars found 61% of drivers rated their understanding of them as good or not good.
Among those questioned, 21% didn’t understand the difference between full battery electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids, and just 29% believed that an EV could charge from 10-80% in less than 30 minutes.
Far more drivers aged 25 to 34 understood the charging capabilities of EVs, exposing a wider generational gap in knowledge. Half (49%) of 25-24-year-olds correcting said EVs could charge in less than 30 minutes, compared with 38% of 18-24-year-olds and just 21% of over-65s.
Overall, drivers in the 25-34 age group rated their knowledge higher than any other demographic, with 49% rating it as good or very good. Just 13% of over-65s believed they had a strong understanding of EVs.
Nicola Dobson, Peugeot UK managing director, said: “The latest survey in electric vehicle knowledge shows that progress is being made with electrification in the UK, but there is still more that needs to be done to provide the public with clear information to help them make the switch.”
The poll also found regional splits in knowledge which reflect broader trends in EV adoption and infrastructure roll-out. Half of Londoners were confident in their EV knowledge, perhaps due to the city’s ULEZ restrictions and wealth of EV charging support.
In contrast, the East of England was the least knowledgeable about electric vehicles, with just 12% of motorists in the region claiming that their knowledge of electric vehicles is either good or excellent.
