A trial of driver attitudes to electric cars will reveal over a third lost their fear of running out of charge within three months of driving the vehicles.
Analysis of data collated from eight Technology Strategy Board (TSB) trials across the UK involving 340 ultra-low carbon vehicles finds 83 per cent of private drivers said the vehicles met their daily needs.
The trials were conducted as part of the TSB’s £25m Ultra Low Carbon Vehicle Demonstration programme, which saw vehicles ranging from high performance models to small city cars embark everyday journeys.
Over the three months, drivers clocked up 677,209 miles during 110,389 journeys, putting the average drive at six miles, just below the UK average of seven miles.
And while every single driver expressed concern prior to the test drives that they would not reach their destination with an electric vehicle (EV), this dropped by 35 per cent after three months.
Andrew Everett, head of transport at the TSB, told BusinessGreen this was due to increased understanding of vehicle capabilities, driving techniques and journey planning.
“You can see in three months there are people adapting really quickly to electric cars and seeing how they [in turn] adapt to their lives,” he said. “It surprised a lot of us - and the ease with which people adapted surprised us as well.”
The TSB found drivers did not change their journey lengths or daily mileage during the trial, while charging data also shows users gained more confidence in their journey distance – there was an eight per cent increase in users allowing their batteries to drop below half full before plugging in.
However, it noted that “an increased range is still a key desire” for electric cars, with private and fleet drivers citing the adequate range they require for daily trips at 92 miles and 121 miles, respectively, beyond the capabilities of current EVs.
Electric cars are expected to face stiff competition when plug-in hybrids, which have on-board petrol engines offering a far superior range, appear on forecourts later this year.
Cars such as the Vauxhall Ampera are priced similarly at £28,995 after the government’s £5,000 plug-in car grant, compared with the £25,990 pure-electric Nissan Leaf.
Some experts have suggested electric cars would be abandoned in favour of combustion engine-supported models, because consumers would opt for models with a greater range.
However, a separate online poll found only half of 530 people questioned would be more likely to buy one of these vehicles than a full electric car, assuming prices were roughly equal.
“We fully expected that motorists would express a great interest in these next-generation range-extended models as a half-way house to a fully electric model,” said Faye Sunderland, editor of TheGreenCarWebsite.co.uk, which conducted the survey.
“Both full EVs and hybrid cars remain too expensive for many,” she added. “[But] as prices come down with increased production, we could see motorists making sensible decisions based on their driving needs rather than an irrational fear of electric cars.”
