Dealers confirm higher fuel prices drive up interest in EVs

Almost 100% of car dealers say that rising fuel prices prompt more interest in electric cars.

A poll of car sellers found that 99% of them believed that high prices at the pump had a direct impact on consumer interest in EVs.

The November Startline Used Car Tracker survey showed that 52% of dealers said the correlation was “significant” while 47% believed there was “some” impact.

Paul Burgess, CEO of Startline, said the findings suggested more emphasis should be put on the lower running costs of EVs, rather than technological advances.

Electric cars can be significantly cheaper to run than petrol or diesel models thanks to cheap home charging. A dedicated EV tariff can allow an average car to be run for as little as 2p per mile, compared with an average cost of around 15p per mile for a petrol car. Even on a standard domestic tariff, home charging costs just 7p per mile for a car averaging 3.5m/kWh.

The Startline survey found that 60% of dealers think consumers are attracted to EVs by such low refuelling costs, but only a third believe buyers are aware that EVs are cheap to refuel.

Paul Burgess commented: “The research suggests overwhelmingly that dealers are seeing a link between electric cars and fuel pump pricing. It’s a really interesting finding that suggests new sales angles for electric cars, based heavily around the ability to run them much more cheaply than petrol or diesel vehicles, as long as you have access to a low-cost charger at home or work.

“Generally, electric car marketing appears to be heavily based around the advanced nature of the technology, strong range and a smooth motoring experience. It may prove to be more productive for the market to point out that when petrol prices rise, your electric car is likely to be a fraction of the cost to refuel.”

Despite the positivity around running costs, 38% of dealers said a range of other factors were ultimately putting drivers off electric cars. Issues such as public charger access and cost are still seen as barriers, along with generally higher purchase prices for new EVs.

Burgess added: “There obviously remain a range of other barriers to electric car adoption for a large proportion of people at this point but this doesn’t change the finding here that a large potential market for electrification based around low-cost fuelling appears to exist.”