Here in the UK, one of the country’s major breakdown services, the RAC has recently ran a survey which looked at the state of motoring in 2022. The RAC spoke to 3102 UK drivers and looked at how many people are willing to switch to EVs and how many are planning to have an EV as their next car.

The numbers showed that an all time high number of drivers are planning to buy an EV as their next car, but the main thing holding them back at the moment is the cost of living crisis affecting the UK. 14% of the 3102 UK drivers who filled in the survey said they would switch to an EV next time, which is up from 10% in 2021.

38% of the people said that the upfront cost of EVs is the main issue, which is down from last year when it was 57%. The amount of people who said they would pick a diesel car next dropped too, down from 16% to 13% since 2021.

In other areas, the cost of electricity is also shaping decisions with 47% of people saying that the increasing cost of electricity was offputting and 46% said that making long journeys was a concern, presumably about range.

“We must not let the growing desire to go electric be derailed by rising electricity costs, higher interest rates and vehicle-availability issues.”

RAC EV spokesperson, Simon Williams

After the report, the RAC openingly called on the government to reintroduce the £1,500 Plug-in Car Grant and also reduce the amount of VAT on public charge points to 5%.