The Great EV Charging Survey

EVA England’s annual survey offers invaluable insights into EV drivers’ experiences, charging habits, and consumer confidence.

This year’s iteration of the EVA England Great EV Charging Survey underscores another resounding ‘Yes’ from EV drivers: 91% would not return to a petrol or diesel car, backed up by the 86% who are finding EVs cheaper to run. Increasing concerns over misinformation are not hampering satisfaction rates and growth in the market, it would seem.

With over 1,700 respondents, EVA England’s latest survey reveals important shifts in the EV consumer base and drivers responding well to improvements in the public charging network.

Our survey, now allowing EVA England invaluable year-on-year comparisons, has been an opportunity to reflect on where the sector is headed, which Government policies are having a tangible impact on EV drivers, and which are being most called for next by drivers themselves.

Read the full report

Demand and Uptake

2024 has shown once again steady signs of growth in EV sales, and our survey supports the theory that a broader category of consumers is now considering the switch to EV. Year-on-year comparisons suggest the ‘typical’ EV driver is now more representative of the average consumer. This has not impacted on last year’s resoundingly high satisfaction rates, however: yet again, over 9 in 10 would not go back to petrol or diesel, and 86% are finding EVs cheaper to run.

The big consideration now is cost. More drivers are looking to the second-hand market for their EV and responding to significantly lower prices in this section of the market. Among newer drivers in our survey, 31% sourced their EV through the second-hand market, up from 20% a year ago. We’ve also noticed a surge in drivers looking towards employer rental and purchasing schemes, where EVs are typically much more affordable and come alongside advantageous tax incentives.

Year-on-year, overall demand has grown but perhaps not quite to the extent needed to reach fast-approaching Net Zero goals. Policy input is needed and a number of solutions are at hand. Some solutions recently identified by EVA England policy analysis received broad support in this year’s survey. This was the case for targeted, low-cost schemes to expand demand in newer, relatively untapped consumer bases – 0% loans for second-hand EVs topped the list, whilst ‘French-style’ social leasing schemes, and re-establishing the 2030 Phase Out date for Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) vehicles, also proved popular.

Charging

Drivers are responding to the vast increases in national public charging infrastructure in the past year. We’ve noticed a 22% increase in the number of drivers reporting no or very few concerns in locating a charging point. They are more confident too, with a similar increase in numbers reporting never having suffered so-called ‘range’ or ‘charging anxiety’.

Pressure is only set to mount on the network, however, as growing demand and growing reliance on public charging is set to continue. For example, of drivers without off-street parking, more than half solely rely on the public network to meet all of their charging needs. The expansion of the network must consider a greater variety of on-street charging solutions that will be especially needed in urban environments.

This year’s survey has allowed us to identify 4 key areas in which policy focus is needed to address our remaining charging barriers, as vocalised by drivers:

Concerted push on public charging

Further developing the network and filling provision gaps is key to keeping at pace with demand. Urban centres are a particular pressure point, where drivers rely more on public charging and more frequently. Pressure points in this area fall under two broad categories: planning barriers, firstly, need addressing as a major obstacle to the vast amounts of private funding currently unable to translate into new installations; secondly, highly successful central funding schemes such as the Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (LEVI) fund and Rapid Charging Fund (RCF) will either need expanding or replacing under the new Government.

Accessibility

The charging network remains woefully maladapted for disabled drivers, with 60% reporting at least one issue when using a public charger. New installations should be mandated to comply with accessibility requirements – already clearly defined under the PAS 1899 framework.

Address high public charging costs

Despite the vast majority (86%) finding EVs cheaper to run, there is a noticeable difference among drivers who charge only via public charge points, only half of whom agree. Research show the average petrol and diesel car currently runs at an approximate cost of 16p- 17p per mile, markedly higher than the estimated 6p per mile afforded by, on average, an EV home charger. Switch to a rapid or ultra-rapid charger on the public network, however, and the cost per mile jumps to 24p per mile, on average. The discrepancy between private and public charging costs remains a priority issue for drivers, especially considering connecting an EV to a home charging point is not a luxury accessible to all. 9 in 10 respondents this year have renewed their call to remove or reduce VAT on public charging.

Grant drivers the Right to Charge

Drivers are resoundingly in favour of expanding access to ‘home’ and ‘destination’ charging solutions that would help free up capacity on the public network and give options to the growing number of drivers without off-street parking. Removing restrictions surrounding gully installations (a form of cross-pavement charging solution), allowing presumptive landlord-tenant agreements for renters to install their own charge points, and mandating larger businesses to provide EV charging points are some policy solutions that EV drivers were broadly in favour of.

Key Findings

Altogether, this has been another positive year for the EV sector. Impressive progress on the national public charging network is clearly having a positive impact on consumer confidence.

Our survey provides reassurance that top-down policy implementations do have an impact on the driver experience. However, drivers without access to off-street parking remain a notable outlier. Because they are more reliant on public charging, they are more exposed to higher charging costs and, as a result, statistically less confident in the overall EV experience. Policy input is needed to grant this growing proportion of drivers the ‘right to charge’ privately and more affordable public charging.

Our survey respondents have enabled us to identify some of these current pressure points, which our report delves into as well as some of the key solutions to hand.

1. Combatting misinformation: Growing demand and overwhelmingly high satisfaction rates are unimpacted by EV misinformation campaigns.

2. Diversifying demand: EV drivers are more representative of the average consumer. Lower EV costs are attracting a wider section of the market. Tax-saving incentives have proven an especially popular driver of growth, whilst more drivers are looking towards second-hand, a sign of a healthy, maturing market.

3. Charging is improving: Drivers have noticed marked improvements in the charging network in the past year, suggesting ‘charging anxiety’ is now of minimal concern.

4. Charging divide: Public charging costs do remain a concern, however, to which drivers without off-street parking and easy means of charging privately are especially vulnerable. Drivers in this category are less confident in the EV experience.

5. More drivers need the ‘Right to charge’: Drivers without off-street parking and with no easy access to a home-charger are too reliant on public charging. ‘Home’ and ‘destination’ charging solutions are a necessary part of the mix but not sufficiently incentivized. A strong majority of drivers backed EVA England’s proposed policy implementations granting more drivers the ‘right to charge’.

What we need to see next:

Avoiding a slump in demand:

The market is showing strong signs of growth, but misinformation and cost considerations (the rising cost of insurance, for example), means continued input on the sector is needed. Low-cost, targeted schemes would help reach sections of the population that have not considered EVs so far, whilst employer-led tax and leasing incentives should continue as an important driver of the sector.

Reinforcing public charging:

Increased access to public charging, at fair costs, is now key considering the strides on the demand side. Regulatory barriers are currently holding the sector back from the pools of private funds waiting to be invested in the public charging network.

Democratising private charging:

EVs uniquely differ from petrol in offering an exciting, wide range of solutions to ‘filling up’. As we see more drivers without off-street parking making the switch, more attention is needed on ‘home’ and ‘destination’ charging as a key solution to avoiding pressure on the public network and keeping charging fair.

Read the full report

Interested in viewing previous iterations of the Great EV Charging Report?

You can find them here:

EVA England’s annual survey offers invaluable insights into EV drivers’ experiences, charging habits, and consumer confidence.

Our Latest Findings

Key Stats

Demand and Uptake

Charging

Key Findings

What we need to see next: