Younger drivers have far greater trust in the performance of an Electric Vehicle (EV) than their older counterparts, according to research by UK website, Leasing.com.
The research conducted by the car leasing comparison website shows that 60% of 18–24-year-olds believe that EV vehicles are as good as traditional internal combustion engines, greatly outweighing the 36% of over 55’s.
This disparity in trust carries great implications due to the cost of EVs as well as the average salary of different age profiles in the UK. The older generation, much more so than the young, have the financial means to adopt renewable technologies, but seemingly are less willing.
Britain’s most popular EVs this year are Volkswagen’s ID.3 and the Tesla Model 3 – come with a minimum weekly leasing cost of £64.88 and £113.81, respectively. Commons Library data reveals the average salary for 18–21-year-olds to be £17,284 per year or £374 per week, and £31,358 a year or £648 a week for 50-59-year olds. This suggests that youngsters, despite largely supporting the EV transition, are unable to afford the switch, unlike their older counterparts.
With COP26 underway, and the UK Government under great pressure, both domestically and internationally, to push ahead with its ambitious climate promises, these figures suggest more work needs to be done by law makers to make EV’s more attractive with grants, improved infrastructure and legislation supporting the change to electric.
But while trust may be an issue, demand to lease EVs is nevertheless increasing. Total leasing enquiries on new electric vehicles – incorporating battery electric vehicles (BEVs), electric plugin and electric hybrid vehicles – grew 66% in Q3 compared to Q2 of this year.
This trend is being accelerated by the ongoing increase in UK fuel prices, which is pushing motorists towards BEVs as they look for reliable, cheaper fuel alternatives in both the short and long term.