Drivers ponder EV purchase after lockdown's environmental improvements

More than half of drivers are more likely to buy a new or used electric vehicle (EV) if the government introduced a scrapple scheme for petrol and diesel cars, according to a poll.

The survey into how drivers' behaviours and attitudes have changed during lockdown, by Smart Home Charge, a car charging comparison website, found that 50.4% of drivers would either “definitely“ or be “more likely“ to buy a new or used EV within the next year if such a scheme was rolled out.

Just under 10% said the scheme would not encourage them to switch to an electric car while 7.3% said they would prefer to lease or rent an electric car rather than buy one.

Almost all respondents said they noticed less congestion and noise pollution - 99.3% and 88.3% respectively - with 98.3% agreeing that electric cars would help reduce noise pollution if they replaced petrol or diesel vehicles.

Some 72.5% of respondents said air quality was “very important“ to them and 97% said the lockdown had a positive effect on local air quality, while a further 68.4% highlighting petrol or diesel vehicles and too many cars as having the most negative impact.

Furthermore, 66% of respondents said they would get a fully electric car when asked what they would most likely do to help improve local air quality. Other options included walking or cycling more at 14.4%, car sharing at 2.1%, avoiding driving into town at 3.1) and getting a plug-in hybrid at 7.6%.

Nearly three quarters of respondents said their driving lifestyle had changed “dramatically“ since lockdown began in March, but only 39.2% said this would continue after lockdown and 31.1% suggested their habits would revert to pre-lockdown behaviour.

Although, 26% of respondents said they would try to drive less often and another 19.2% would walk or cycle into town or to the shops.

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