Skip to main content

A third of Brits willing to pay more to purchase electric cars

Over a third of the British public would be willing to pay more for a fully electric car than a petrol or diesel vehicle, said Baringa Partners. However, the business consultancy’s latest report also highlighted 35% of respondents think these vehicles are worse value for money. Called Is the UK ready for electric cars?, the document revealed 68% of respondents are willing to pay more for an electric car for its environmental benefits. Meanwhile, nearly half based their decision on the belief that electri
June 5, 2018 Read time: 2 mins
Over a third of the British public would be willing to pay more for a fully electric car than a petrol or diesel vehicle, said Baringa Partners. However, the business consultancy’s latest report also highlighted 35% of respondents think these vehicles are worse value for money.


Called Is the UK ready for electric cars?, the document revealed 68% of respondents are willing to pay more for an electric car for its environmental benefits. Meanwhile, nearly half based their decision on the belief that electric cars are cheaper to run in the long term.

However, participants are only willing to pay a little extra with less than a fifth willing to spend up to 5% more for an electric car. Meanwhile, 13% of drivers are willing to pay an additional 10% for their next purchase.  

Baringa warns different driving habits can lead to a difference in the total cost of electric cars. Fleet buyers are set to save more fuel on fully electric models as the lower operating costs can make them equal to conventional vehicles. However, private buyers are not likely to see parity until the mid-2020s when electric car prices are expected to fall.

Oliver Rix, partner in energy and resources at Baringa Partners says the additional money people are willing to spend is unlikely to increase uptake significantly in the short-term.

“Therefore, the government needs to ensure grants for electric cars continue to be offered until prices fall more in line with their petrol and diesel counterparts.”

Rix also recommends car manufacturers should highlight the wider financial benefits of owning an electric car, such as the tax and fuel savings and promote cheaper models available.

City spotlights showed 41% of Londoners are likely to consider buying a fully electric car for their next purchase. This figure is followed by residents in Cardiff (37%), Glasgow (33%), Bristol (24%), Brighton (21%) and Nottingham (10%).

A full copy of the report is available on the %$Linker: 2 External <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?><dictionary /> 0 0 0 link-external website false https://www.baringa.com/getmedia/81a8c49b-cb7a-4e23-9f94-0f475f3222ee/Is-the-UK-ready-for-Electric-Cars-FINAL-WEB/ false false%>.

Related Content

  • February 23, 2018
    Companies depend on automation, AI and machine learning for cyber security
    To defend against cyber attacks, 39% of organisations are reliant on automation, 34% on machine learning and 32% on artificial intelligence (AI), according to the Cisco 2018 annual report conducted on 3,600 chief information security officers. It found that over half of all attacks resulted in financial damages of more than $500,000 (£697,000), including, but not limited to, lost revenue, clients, opportunities, and out-of-pocket costs. The study revealed that adversaries are using Malware sophistication
  • October 30, 2015
    Upcoming Flir traffic webinars
    Flir Traficon Academy is organising several informative webinars for November, to provide participants with more about keeping traffic flowing. The vehicle and bicycle presence detector on 5 November at 7:00am, 1:30pm and 6:30pm will discuss the Flir ThermiCam/TrafiSense integrated thermal camera and detector that can be used for vehicle and bike detection, which uses thermal energy emitted from vehicles and bicyclists to detect their presence
  • September 23, 2019
    MTC approves e-tolling upgrade for Bay Area bridges
    The Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) intends to replace cash lanes with the electronic FasTrak tolling system at seven bridges in the San Francisco Bay Area. A report by Fox 2 KTVU says the MTC is hoping the $4 million upgrade will speed up traffic flow and save money on operations on the following bridges: Carquinez, Antioch, Benicia, Richmond-San Rafael, San Francisco-Oakland Bay, San Mateo and Dumbarton. For drivers without a FasTrak system, cameras will capture the number plates of their v
  • July 28, 2017
    US connected vehicle pilot deployment sites launch new websites, videos
    The US Department of Transportation (USDOT) connected vehicle pilot locations, New York City (link https://www.cvp.nyc/), Wyoming (link https://wydotcvp.wyoroad.info/) and Tampa, Florida (link https://www.tampacvpilot.com/), have launched new websites and videos dedicated to their connected vehicle deployments. These three locations are leading the charge to deploy advanced wireless communications technology in their vehicles and on their roads in regions throughout the nation. The web sites provide informa