Scottish drivers in the EV switch fast lane
Scottish drivers look set to be in the fast lane for the switch to Electric Vehicles, according to a CTEK survey of more than 1,000 UK drivers by Find Out Now.
Asked what type of car they imagine they would be driving in 2035, more than three out of five (41%) of the country’s drivers envisage themselves behind the wheel of a fully battery electric vehicle (BEV) or a plug-in hybrid (PHEV). The national average was 36%.
The three in ten (30%) of Scottish drivers who anticipate they will be driving a fully electric car by 2035 makes the region a joint national leader, alongside the North West and Yorkshire and Humber.
Even by 2030, the survey found that almost one in three (28%) of Scottish drivers think they will be behind the wheel of a BEV or PHEV.
Scottish drivers expecting to buy a second hand car next are also in the fast lane for the switch to electric. Some 7% expect to buy a used BEV and an even larger 16% a used PHEV.
Daniel Forsberg, Marketing Manager EVSE at the EV chargepoint manufacturer CTEK, said: “Scottish drivers look set to be in the fast lane for switching within a decade from now.
“The UK Governments and the regional mayors and councils can do more to entice drivers to move from petrol or diesel to electricity, including by massively expanding the availability of public charging so ICE drivers feel confident that if they do switch to an EV they can charge easily and conveniently.”
Nationally, the survey found drivers in their 30s look set to spearhead the switch to EVs. The survey reveals 30 to 39-year-olds are the generation most primed to buy EV and ditch petrol and diesel first.
The survey found almost two thirds (61%) of drivers currently in their 30s foresee they will be driving an EV in the year 2035, when they will be in their 40s. Only one in six (17%) thirty-somethings think they will still be driving an ICE (purely petrol or diesel) vehicle in a decade’s time. The rest don’t know.
Even by 2030, a majority (59%) of what CTEK is terming ‘Generation E’ will be driving a Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV) or a hybrid. Just over a fifth (21%) think they will be driving an ICE car.
Daniel Forsberg said: “We’re calling UK drivers in their 30s ‘Generation E’ because they are leading the way in practically every question we asked in our nationally representative survey.
“We suspect there are several factors at play in this. People in their 30s are likely to have both the financial means to be able to choose electric and the environmental and climate awareness to want to do so. Not far behind them are the 18 to 29-year-olds, who are the second age group most set to go EV.
“In contrast, it is the older generations aged 55 and above who are least likely to switch, in spite of probably being financially able to. They are, we suspect, more wedded to fossil fuels after decades of driving ICE cars.
“Overall the survey results point to a rapidly approaching future of mass adoption of electric mobility, especially by the younger generations. This suggests millions more EVs on the UK roads in just a few years, begging the question: where will they all charge? The roll-out of public charging must accelerate to keep pace with the huge demand our survey results suggest will emerge.”