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

  • July 25, 2019
    ReachNow scraps car rental service in Seattle and Portland
    ReachNow has scrapped its car-rental services in Seattle and Portland following a corporate “realignment”, says The Seattle Times. ReachNow offered rentals for BMWs and Mini Coopers and launched a ride-hailing service last year. In May, the company announced to some of its customers that it was shutting down its ride-hailing service, saying that its third-party vendor could no longer support their business. Last November, ReachNow - a BMW subsidiary - integrated car-sharing and ride-hailing int
  • January 23, 2018
    USDOT to host three-part webinar on latest trends in ITS deployment
    The U.S. Department of Transportation ITS Joint Program Office will host a new three-part webinar series emphasizing the latest trends and developments in ITS deployment. It aims to support informed decision making on ITS investments, highlight recent additions to the survey and obtain feedback from participants on how to redesign the portal to improve its use and value. ITS Deployment Tracking: 2016 Survey Findings on Current Levels and Trends will focus on key findings from the 2016 survey and explore
  • February 19, 2016
    Flir training webinars
    The Flir Traficon Academy is organising a variety of training courses this month, covering covering topics such as the Flir ThermiCam and Flir ITS solutions. More information and registration details are available here. (link www.flir.co.uk/traffic/display/?id=66621
  • February 28, 2013
    ITS America concerned over use of 5GHz spectrum band
    ITS America has raised con­cerns with the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) over the potential use of the 5GHz band spec­trum by unlicensed national information infrastructure devices. It wants to protect the 5.9GHz band for dedicated short-range communications (DSRC)-based systems. These crucially underpin the development of connected vehicle (CV) technologies which could help slash the US’ annual tally of six million road traffic accidents and over 30,000 deaths. Within the US Department of Trans